Never Forget
by BettyBest2
Summary: Meliodas has his hands full with protecting Elizabeth Liones, surprisingly rambunctious, sweet and gorgeous Princess of the Kingdom she's asked him to save on top of searching for his fellow Sins. Not to mention the fact that he's been having dreams of his past he can't recall afterwards. There's also the matter of falling in love with the blush inducing Princess as well.
1. Chapter 1

As written on my profile, this is an incomplete work I'm posting. You can go there to see the entire explanation.

* * *

 **~Prologue~**

The halls of the castle are bright with a winter glow. The luminance from outside cascades through pristine windows. Her heels sound sharply on the floors that have been polished to such perfection she can almost see her own reflection. Everything feels wonderful on Elizabeth's way towards the dining hall for her usual breakfast with her papa. Her home is as it should be.

A hum picks up lovely and soft as her hand tightens a smidgen in its grasp upon the skirts of her peach colored dress. Servants pass by swiftly murmuring hasty greetings as they go. Elizabeth makes sure to return them, interrupting her song. Her bright outlook makes her miss the twists in their expressions before they smooth blank.

Elizabeth finds herself in the main hall only a short jaunt away from meeting her papa. This causes her made up song to reach its peak thrusting her steps into full blown skips. Her long silver hair sways and bounces as she tries to keep her song up and not break into giggles. A moment later it all fractures into a startled squeak when she turns towards the doors of the dining hall only to crash into a firm, unyielding body.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to run into you... Sir Hendrickson?" The strained furrow of her brow now shifts into a wide gaze as she takes in his figure.

Sir Hendrickson, one of Liones' Grand Masters gazes down at her with cold, unmoving blue orbs. His silver hair like her own spikes from his head and chin in a controlled manner reminding her of when she was just a few years younger and thought him appealing for it. Now as she takes a step back adjusting her posture to represent that of a born princess, Elizabeth can't fathom such an idea.

"Lady Elizabeth, your father wished for me to inform you of the changes taking place this morning. Your usual breakfast is to happen in his sitting room just for today." He stands with his hands casually held in front of his waist after his reiteration like a fortress barricading her from the dining hall.

It feels sour in her mouth. Her papa has never changed their arrangements. He has had to cancel for important meetings, but he's never changed where they've met. And if he did have to give her such a message, he'd send one of her ladies in waiting, Margaret or Veronica. Come to think of it, she hasn't seen either of them since her bath that morning... Blinking as she realizes it's gone a while since her response, Elizabeth nods easily and gives a curtsey. "Thank you, Sir Hendrickson."

"There's no need for such graciousness, my lady," he assures lowly as an unreadable glint comes to his eyes.

Elizabeth's fingers spasm uncomfortably before she turns and heads in the direction she was given. The halls seem muted. The glow of winter now feels dull upon her skin. The floors announce her steps akin to the tick of nerves now pulsing through her veins. Staring at her murky reflection in the polished marble merely makes her notice how pallid her skin has become.

There are a number of ways to her papa's sitting room. Her feet wind up dragging her there the long way do to her thoughts. Something feels unusually odd about the entire situation. But she can't figure out why. The cool metal of the knob meets her palm. She jumps with a quiet yelp snatching her hand away as a sharp spark goes through her flesh. Just before she can question this, her entire figure is rattled to the bones throwing off her stability as she loses her footing. Falling to the ground with a loud scream, Elizabeth's eyes swivel around as the castle rumbles and quakes all around her.

"W-What is going on?" she gasps, fingers curling lightly into the ground as the castle steadies. She's quick to push herself up and glimpse at the door to her papa's sitting room with a thin line to her lips. There weren't any sounds of alarm coming from the room. In fact... she's starting to believe her papa isn't there at all. But if he isn't-She cringes abruptly, leaning against the wall as the castle thunders at its foundations once more. Blue eyes narrow under disarrayed bangs. "I don't know what's happening, but I have to find my papa."

Her dainty demeanor shifts into something hardened as she runs down the halls, bunching her dress in her hands while doing so. Rubble lies in her path from attacks shaking the foundation apart and a steady rise of uproars build from outside piercing the quiet winter normally holds. Determination keeps her on her feet when she rounds a corner and it suddenly feels as if the castle is tipping. She must get to her papa. He'll know what's going on and what to do.

"The princess! We must stop at nothing to find her!" A gruff order resounds at the end of the hall with the heavy clang of metal and thudding steps.

Elizabeth's heart stops for a second and her eyes tremble in their gaze ahead. The hall she stands in is wide and grand now filled with fissures and dusty rubble as her home is ravaged. She feels it in her bones, the seconds chipping away before they all turn and she's discovered. Scrambling with messy footfalls and fear dotting her flesh, she slams her back against the wall of an alcove and squeezes her eyes closed.

Rushed thumps grow louder. Louder still until it's all she can hear. It's all she can feel throughout her being. Then... they steadily fade. Elizabeth slumps as her chest heaves.

Not wasting a moment longer, Elizabeth runs to the only place she can think her papa could be: The throne room.

She smashes into the hidden side door frantically grasping for the handle until it gives under her persistence. Forcing it closed behind her with a bang the utter silence that fills the room merely makes her swift breathing ruckus in her ears. She almost thinks the room is abandoned until she's pulled into a hug that nearly takes her off her feet and replaces the air in her lungs with a relieved warmth. Returning the hold as best as she can Elizabeth's eyes water and she takes in the peppermint smell that always clings to him with deep breaths. "Papa!"

His fingers hold her head to his chest where she listens to the rhythmic beats of his heart. "Oh my sweet daughter. I'd feared they had captured you. But you are smart and so very brave. I know you'll get through this."

His words form a layer of ice around her that urges her to pull away and meet the grim lines in his visage. "What is going on? Why is everyone behaving so maliciously?"

His hand falls upon her shoulder and she can feel how tired he suddenly is in the gesture. She makes haste to help him to his throne. "It would seem that the Holy Knights have decided our roles in the kingdom are no longer needed and that you and I and any of our supporters are to be removed."

Her hands rise over her mouth to stifle a gasp before falling to her sides curled tight. " _No_. No, we can't let them do this, papa!"

Her shout is ignored as he reaches to take one of her fists and smooth it out between his. Her insides twist and knot as she tries not to scream and shout. He won't fight them! Why won't he-

"Elizabeth, I must stay here and let them capture me. It'll be the only way to put them at ease for the time being while you escape."

" _Papa, no_ -!"

"Elizabeth listen to me!" His voice rises above hers as she becomes rooted in place while her blood drains so that dread can easily replace it. "You are a fighter. With you free you'll discover a way to save our kingdom. I know you will."

A harsh bang erupts at the large ornate throne doors piercing her heart as she turns her hand in his in order to grasp it, not wanting to let go. "Papa, I can't leave you here."

"I'm so sorry to have put this all on your shoulders, but I truly believe this to be the only way." His shoulders sag and she knows his regret deeply.

The thuds come louder and more insistent followed by the sound of demanding voices. Elizabeth closes her eyes briefly in order to steel herself against the rattled nerves, the terror of leaving her father behind, and the instinctive wish to shrink away from the unknown that lies ahead of her. She leans over and places a kiss upon the gray crown of hair. "I'll do you proud papa, just please be safe."

Throat tight, Elizabeth slides her hand from his and rushes to the stone wall beyond the throne, pressing in a specific block that opens up a hidden passage. She doesn't look back until the last possible moment where blazing electric blue alights the throne room and the Holy Knight Gilthunder powers forward to seize her unresisting papa.

Hidden away she stares blankly as reality truly hits her. She's on her own. The kingdom's fate now rests in her hands. She only allows herself a few tears before soldiering on. She takes the secret tunnels to her chambers to collect a suitable attire to travel in the brutal weather. Luckily, the knights believe her to already be long gone and do not search it again.

In the tunnels once more, dressed as anything but a princess with thick a navy wrap in hand, she escapes the castle and sets out on a journey fueled by stories her papa used to tell her of seven amazing people who might just be able to do the impossible.

~.~.~

There's a lot of nothing during her travels. Just blistering winds, piles of snow, and scarcely people.

Elizabeth hadn't thought she'd be going on for so long without stopping. Each footstep in front of the next becomes a challenge in itself as she peers blearily through the opening in the wrap that surrounds her. But she must go on, to find The Seven Deadly Sins. No matter how much her feet ache, her muscles numb, or her stomach moans for food.

 _Food_.

Oh she hasn't gone this long without a good meal. And quite frankly it's making her a bit delirious. That or the lack of rest and harsh conditions in general. The howl of the wind has followed her for days. She's grown used to the burn of icy wind in her nose. She doesn't even know if the sun has come out since the day she escaped her home.

Elizabeth's steps falter, her mind blurring on more than one occasion. She has to repeat her purpose aloud to herself to never forget, to keep going. But even she can't go on like this for very long. She hardly notices the door she stumbles through, the wind from outside having made keeping her eyes open for very long a difficult task. All she knows is that her energy is deserting her, abandoning her desire to never stop until she finds them. "...S-seven… deadly… s-sins…"

So when her body takes a spill she doesn't resist, thinking she'll end up in the snow unable to get back up, eventually piled beneath it in her snowy coffin. However, it seems fate has thrown her pity. Her trip unravels her of her heavy sodden wrap and trusts her into the sheer warmth and heavenly smells of the building. Then-

 _Food_!

She lands roughly but she could care less as the smell of spicy sauces and gooey cheese nearly down her. She inhales the spaghetti laid before her like there's no tomorrow, already feeling her energy build up just enough to where standing back up is an option once more.

After making sure there's no food wasted, Elizabeth pulls herself up off the... broken table? Odd. Things begin catching up to her slowly, like her surroundings, but not before sure can see a number of people gazing at her as if she's some sort of mad woman who blew in like a hurricane. Elizabeth hardly even considers this, only the fact that these are _people_ and they might know! "I'm looking for The Seven Deadly Sins! Does anybody know about them?"

An uproar of distressed murmurs kicks up more vicious than a sandstorm and she thinks her answers will finally come. Instead someone she hadn't noticed marches right up to her expression chagrined, blond hair neatly falling around his features with a few curving out wildly as if they didn't get the memo. His finger juts towards her chest forcing her to lean back or risk taking the full force of his displeasure. Her eyes round as she gapes at him, having never seen a man quite like him before. "Wha...?" She sounds a little confused and she's feeling it too as her heart thuds erratically. _'Those are the deepest, greenest eyes that have ever bored into me...'_

His hand pulls back as he leans enough away for her to see the mess she made over his shoulder. "Don't " _wha_ " me! Pay up the mess you made... and the food too." He's all business and no nonsense as he stares her down nearly making her squirm for unclear reasons.

 _'So that's why he's upset... He must be the owner. A very handsome one at that.'_ Her cheeks flush despite herself unable to deny it as she studies the casual yet sternly dressed attire that gives peaks to the no doubt incredible physique he hides beneath. She's seen knights all her life and she can tell this man is built similarly.

"...In exchange, I'll give you the most important things to girls, okay?" The words are out of her mouth before she can think about them making her cheeks darken considerably. She doesn't have money on her, so offering such a thing seems the right thing to do.

And in a blink, his firm expression shatters under confused fluster which she finds utterly cute. "What...?"

Elizabeth reaches down and grasps the wrapping she'd used to shield herself from the cold, holding it out to him like a sacred offering. "Take this!"

His eyes which were dazed and disbelieving clear up as his body bristles in agitation. "I don't want your dirty wrapping rag!"

She pouts, crestfallen that he won't take her offering, "But it's such an important thing to girls since we can't let ourselves get cold." What did he expect her to offer? Maybe she could give that to him instead?

~.~.~

In the end, the man who made her blush, tingle, and offer sacred things to him without a thought got rid of the riff raff while taking her in and feeding her more. His name was Meliodas and despite not seeming to know how to handle her, Elizabeth couldn't help but think of him as a sweetie. Though at night in the bed he offered her she didn't dare put too much hope in him giving her the answers she needed. Such luck would be too much.

The next day proved that fate held an entirely different view than her when she spoke to Meliodas of the Sins. He held his cards close to his chest, his expressions once telling his every thought, closed off into cynical masks determined to have her prove her worth, her _resolve_.

It was horrifying when he took the blade meant for her hand without so much as a wince. The Meliodas she thought was an ordinary bar own was starting to shed his own disguise, revealing something entirely different, knee weakening and awe inspiring.

The Holy Knights came for her, but Meliodas stood before her and their treachery unstoppable, and unwavering. He pledged himself to her, the revealed princess, and her well being as any knight should, as the knights and the Holy Knight before them never could. She knew as he spoke, powerful and regal, before the mark on his right shoulder was even revealed that he had to be one of _them_. But with the largest, bone trembling sword she's ever seen held with ease in his left hand, he took that revelation a step further.

Elizabeth had found her first Sin: Meliodas, Dragon's Sin of Wrath, Captain of The Seven Deadly Sins.


	2. Chapter 2

**~1~**

 _"I'm so sorry, Meliodas... This is for the best. I promise."_

A phantom tone comprised of the sweetest dulcet plays across his ears briefly. His eyes gradually open as he tries to hear it again, to remember the words, to even grasp the image they belong to. But the dream fades as rapidly as his next breath, and he finds himself sitting up in bed with trembling fingers coming to his eyes. They come back wet with tears which astonishes him.

"What in the...?" His hand moves before him to show off the evidence of his discovery more thoroughly as if his first glance wasn't to be believed. But the sunshine through the slit of the curtains reflect on them incriminatingly, and the wad of emotion built up and dragged from somewhere still rests at the back of his throat.

The mystery nearly gets another moment of his thoughts until a call from downstairs outshines just about everything. "Meliodas! Yoo-hoo! Are you up yet?"

His heart does a strange leap before falling straight to the fiery pits of hell as worry settles into his bones nice and deep. " _Shit_. I must've overslept." He uses his arm to scrub his face of wayward tears then promptly forgets them as he hops out of bed and onto cool floorboards. Some make hollow squeaks as he rushes towards his washroom all while thinking, ' _Please don't let her set a fire. Please don't let her cut herself. And please don't let her figure out how to get to the controls of the Avallo.'_

His guest needs quite a bit of attention—not that he minds, by any means—but it's been a learning experience these past few weeks since she blew into his life. Apart of that has been learning not to leave her alone and unoccupied for too long. Which is why he dashes from the washroom tripping over the pants he tugs up to his waist. Regaining his footing after a few wobbly hops, Meliodas hastily grabs his olive green vest and white button down simultaneously. In the whirl his mind is over how long it's been since he last heard a peep from her, he carelessly attempts to dawn both which lands him in an awful clash of colors, cloth, and frustration.

"Meliodas!" The carefree tone now appears right outside of his door a precursor to her entrance just as he begins to detangle himself. She stands there, blue eyes wide beneath silver bangs before a cute laugh he's heard dozens and dozens of times at his expense bubbles to life which she futilely hides behind dainty fingers. "You're so funny, Meliodas! Do you need any help?" She blinks in question once her mirth settles.

Of course embarrassment floods his cheeks despite the firm line his mouth draws into and the tense pull of his eyebrows. "No, I assure you I can manage on my own." He has been for years and years after all. But as he lets the vest slide off one arm Elizabeth appears in front of him in a blink, crowding his space with swirls of jasmine that flutter against his nose. Her expression is woven in that curious fascination he's learned to be wary of.

"Whoa... They're like pairs of smooth, flat planes." To emphasize her words and discovery he feels a slight poke to his stomach.

He lurches away feeling his throat tighten in an effort to halt his heart's erratic jumps there. " _Elizabeth_!" He couldn't possibly sound more scandalized in that moment, until he notices Elizabeth, completely nonplussed by her relaxed features, going to lift her own blouse above her stomach to poke experientially at it for him to see.

"My stomach's not like that. See? I wonder why."

" _Elizabeth_!" His hand reaches out with his shirt dangling at his wrist to grasp and swiftly draw down her own over her skin. Heat steams his neck as he jerkily looks away from her. How could he forget such an image of perfectly smooth skin soaked in nothing but water and suds? He tries very well to for his own sake. Stepping back while fixing his shirt with precise fingers, he gives the girl now looking around his room the words he hopes she was looking for to begin with in a voice strained too much for his liking, "I'll be down to fix breakfast in a moment."

As quick as a lantern she flares brightly with a smile. "Okay!"

He hears her footsteps stir up a ruckus heading downstairs not a moment later allowing him to let go of a breath that leaves him hunched over a bit. "No matter what, definitely, even if I died, I'll get used to her unpredictability."

When a crash that shudders the wood under his feet followed by an, "Uh oh..." come a second later, he finds his words to have no meaning.

~.~.~

The plate slides from off of his hand and onto the bar in front of the guilty princess laden with a pile of pancakes smothered in syrup. Her saddened visage complete with frowning lips flips the moment food is laid out before her.

"Thank you!" She claps quickly only to grab a fork to begin digging in.

Meliodas however leans on the bar head propped into his palm as he watches her dryly. "So tell me again how you managed to blow out the side window in the kitchen?" There was glass and wood chunks _everywhere_ that he made Elizabeth wait patiently until he swept up before he started on breakfast.

Mouthful, she takes a big swallow then launches into her grand story. "Well, I was playing with the switch thing that opens and closes the floor—"

"The trap door." He grumbles taking his eyes off of her to look at the large square where a table sits discreetly that can and has been opened up on occasion to let out bothersome customers or heinous knights if necessary.

"Right!" She quickly nods. "But then I thought I could try and make some breakfast too and went into the kitchen—"

"That I told you specifically not to go into unless I'm with you." He inserts a bit irked once more as his green eyes land on her again.

"Mmhmm." She agrees while chewing and he sees half of her mountain of pancakes are suddenly missing. "Well, I wanted something sweet, but I didn't know how to start or even what to make! So I..."

He listens as she tells her story watching the way she expresses it through her eyes and the motions of her hands with all the enthusiasm one can muster. She's so different than anyone he's met and _completely_ opposite of him. He's usually calm albeit skittish of things he's frightened of or uncomfortable with. He walks a straight arrow in life, liking to keep things organized and in place if he can help it.

But Elizabeth is on the other side of the spectrum. She's effervescent, loud, and all outside of the lines. He looks at her now as she eats and talks getting syrup on her cheeks here and there and it's like being exposed to his own personal sun. The tavern setting which is cozy, and homey in appearance with a hearth in the corner and windows on the walls that shed light has never felt so alive until she made her mark there.

Living alone for ten years has blinded him to how cold the place had become. Even though Elizabeth can be a wild card... he likes her.

"... and somehow the pan went rocketing towards the window in a huge explosion!" She finishes with a wave of her hand.

He closes his eyes briefly to hold in a wave of worry at the image. "That could've taken your head off if you'd been in the way." He reopens his eyes in time to spot the fork full of buttery, sugary smelling pancakes heading straight for him. His mouth opens without thought and he's treated to the apparently last of Elizabeth's pancakes. It never ceases to amaze him how fast she can devour a meal.

Elizabeth lowers her gaze a bit when she takes the fork away. "You have to eat too. Especially since it's so good."

Meliodas flushes a bit as he straightens his stance, sliding his hands along the smooth bar to try and gain his bearings. "Yeah... I learned it's best to wait until you're finished to be sure that there's enough." He informs her lightly. The last time he underestimated how much she could eat he wound up having to cook more just to satisfy her.

Now she looks troubled as she toys with her utensil. "I feel bad about that. And you're doing so much for me already..."

The serious tone highlighted by her resolve and determination that undertones her personality are always a sight to see and tends to leave him momentarily breathless. "Don't worry about it," he waves off after a clearing of his throat. "I don't mind."

She looks up like a flower drawn to sunbeams and the sunlight happens to catch her eyes just right transforming them into dazzling cerulean gems. "Are you sure?"

He nearly spasms as nerves take over, twisting his lungs up in uncertain breaths and fogging his mind with a heady heat. Still he manages to stay still long enough to grasp the handkerchief beside her in order to wipe the sticky bits off her face while stammering an assurance, "Y-yeah! I don't mind taking care of you at all!" All of the nerves in his body seize as the handkerchief flutters unceremoniously to her cleaned plate. Elizabeth gazes at him brightly not seeing his dilemma while Meliodas struggles to pull his face free of the mortified twist it'd sprung into.

Jumping back he begins a quick retreat to the kitchen with no looks back. "I'm just gonna get some breakfast. Okay? Bye." He barely hears the questioning hum she gives before he falls back against the closed door sliding down it until he's say with his legs drawn to his chest. He likes her perhaps _too_ much. And that can prove disastrous for their situation.

~.~.~

It was a mistake, an extremely poor judgment on his part to leave her alone while he went to buy parts to repair the window, he just _knows_ it. But he thought it would be quicker if he ran out and bought the wood he knew he'd need, the precise amount of nails he knew he'd use, instead of having to escort Elizabeth around too as she window shopped and used her persuasive eyes into getting a few things out of the trip. Still, as he speed walks with planks of wood under one arm and a container of nails in one hand with a scarf blowing into his face every so often, he can't help but imagine all the trouble she might've landed into inside the Avallo.

Meliodas walks into the unassuming bar and immediately props the wood against the wall beside the entrance, sitting down the nails as well. Throwing his scarf on a hook he runs his eyes over the first floor seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Instantly alarm bells go off. "Elizabeth! I'm back! Where are you?"

What if the Holy Knights found the place and discovered her while he was away? Blood pulsing in his veins in panic he heads for the stairs and takes then two at a time when she doesn't answer. _He should've never left her alone._ Her room is on the second floor and he bursts in without knocking. It's empty as he hadn't hoped, looking horribly untidy with clothes he'd gotten her scattered here and there. The smell of jasmine smacks him in the face and he nearly crumples hoping for the excitable girl to pop out of nowhere to scare him as she sometimes gets a kick out of doing. But no one comes. He strides towards a desk resting just beneath the window and finds the wrapping she'd offered to give him that first day frayed at the edges. It's bright navy as he'd made sure to have it cleaned so it wouldn't stink up the place. He shakes his head of the memory and leaves the room heading further up.

Maybe she left bored in search of him? She could be half way to Timbuktu if that's the case, which only makes his stomach twist harshly. "Elizabeth? You in here?" His voice begs her to answer as he reaches outside his own door pushing it open. Of course it's devoid of life as well. Only the neatly put together room stares back at him, not a thing out of place. His fingers curl into the heat of his palm shuddering at the pulse of magic that blazes through him as a wall of severity envelopes him. "Maybe I can sense you out then..." The harsh gravel of his tone is almost foreign to him, scarcely used in the past ten years. Having been hidden away with the condemning of The Seven Deadly Sins. Only dredged up when Elizabeth appeared in his life and that Holy Knight threatened her...

He feels for any presence in the Avallo, spreading his power across it like a blanket until something reaches back snatched up like a moth to a flame. The energy is wild and bright, soft and tender as it lies within his grasp. Meliodas finds his heart ticking frantically within his chest for an entirely different reason as he basks within the golden glow. Then with a sweeping breath his eyes open a fraction darker before he's running from his room and down to the bar. Once on the floor he slows letting his feet carry him to a certain table where he squats down, then lifts the white cloth. There curled asleep beneath it is the missing princess. His chest lightens while watching her. He can't fathom why she'd want to sleep there instead of her own bed until a stray ray of sunlight hits one of the tables legs that doesn't quite belong.

As he eyes the handle of his sword he wonders if she doesn't like the idea of being left alone.

His expression softens a bit as he reaches out to grasp a lock of her lengthy silver hair, then gives it a light tug. "It's time to wake up, Elizabeth." He only lets the silky tresses go when he sees her feature scrunch a bit in waking. Her eyes lock on him and it becomes far more noticeable to him the tension powering through him waiting to be assured that she is indeed just fine.

"Meliodas! You're back!" Her voice is thick with grogginess as she lifts a fist to rub at her eyes.

"And you're under a table… why?" He points out with a raise of a blond eyebrow falling naturally into their habits.

Elizabeth unexpectedly crawls his way out from under the table causing him to fall back on his ass in an effort to move out of her way. She giggles at this when she pulls her legs under herself to sit beside him. "Well I started thinking about that day while you were gone and how awful things could've turned out for you if you hadn't been who you are." All her humor seems to have melted away into a quiet withdrawn tone. He looks at her fully when her finger runs over the white material of his shirt on his right arm just above where it's rolled tight. He swears he can almost feel the pad of her finger trace the mark of the dragon carved there, each circuit smoother and more delicate than the last. Meliodas turns away from her downturned gaze shadowed by a thick set of pretty lashes and instead looks down himself while inhaling sharply only to fill his lungs with the scent of her. "I suppose I needed a bit of reassurance and this sword kinda brought it to me."

Meliodas clears his throat and shifts his legs a bit to ward off any unwanted stirrings while keeping his eyes on the planks of the floor. "I did say I wouldn't let anyone hurt you and I also promised I would rebuild the kingdom with the help of my fellow Sins. There's nothing to worry about, Elizabeth." His eyes catch sight of the afternoon sun and he springs to his feet with a nervous jolt. "Except getting that window fixed by tonight. We do have a bar to open up after all."

Elizabeth leaps to her feet, flowing skirt billowing around her calves as she does. "Can I help too?"

He cringes, shoulders hunching, body freezing in place as he'd been attempting to sneak to the wood he'd left by the door without notice. His mind races for the best harmless way that she can help. "You can hand me the nails when I need them… please?"

"Okay!" She sweeps up the container of nails and a nearby stool and just narrowly misses being hit with the planks he lifts beneath his arm. After the mini heart attack he suffers while watching her continue on none the wiser, Meliodas trudges behind her knowing full well Elizabeth has intentions of talking his ear off while assisting him.

Who needs peace and quiet while hammering nails anyway?

~.~.~

If there's one thing he's most surprised about when it comes to Elizabeth it's how amazing she is as a waitress. She's extremely sociable, astonishingly dextrous, and seems to know what order goes to what table at any given time. For someone who literally tripped into his bar and landed on a plate of spaghetti, he hadn't seen her ability to become the finest waitress he's ever encountered in the slightest. Every small village they happen upon loves the unassuming princess. He can't say he blames them.

A white cloth goes over the bar by his hand running over any missed spills as the evening winds down. The last customers steadily trickle out while Elizabeth does what she can to make their stay hospitable. The hearth pops and crackles in the corner barely heard over the laughter of Elizabeth and a young man a few years her elder in the back. Meliodas eyes them for a moment, studying the brunette with Elizabeth before stooping down behind the bar to collect a few bottles of ale that need replacing. It's not unusual for Elizabeth to single a few people out if she believes they might have information on the location of the Sins, so he simply ticks this off as one of those times.

Grasping four bottles by their necks, the cold empty glass is brought up to the be laid on the bar in time for him to catch a tipsy drawl of, "Let's have a dance."

Elizabeth is caught between the looming brunette eying her in anticipation and a table while she openly stares in slight confusion. "But there's no music."

The man's palm comes to rest at the small of her back as he grins down at her a bit sloppily. "Then let's make our own."

A low growl escapes Meliodas' chest in the shape of a hissed breath and at once all four bottles shatter. His thin glare never leaves the form of the brunette and neither does the heated rage burning through his veins let up. Either that hand remove itself from Elizabeth's person or Meliodas will remove it himself. It makes no difference as long as it's done before he decides to add the whole arm to the list of what's to be removed.

Elizabeth flicks her gaze in Meliodas' direction briefly before pushing the man back who moves away without any protest. "Thanks, but no thanks!" she offers an apologetic smile and quickly heads towards the disaster of glass Meliodas has formed.

His head is lowered as he tries to shake off the irrational sense of fury that seems to have a hold of him, but not before it can bark out a brusque, "The Avallo's closed. _Get out._ " The footsteps are wobbly but they scurry out in a decent amount of time. Meliodas' calloused palm lies against his forehead as he sighs. _'_ _What's up with me? I never cause messes like this…'_ Bar fights of any kind are held outside to refrain from damage to the Avallo. Plus he generally just likes things tidy. He lifts his head enough to see the glimmering glass spread recklessly across the bar and scoffs. This was senseless. ' _Just like your reaction to a man around Elizabeth?'_ He grits his teeth still feeling a burn to his blood when a tinkling and a swishing of bristles to the side catches his ear.

Elizabeth quietly sweeps the bits of glass into a bucket to be thrown out later with her thin brows drawn together in thoughtful consideration. His stomach twists in sudden guilt. "You don't have to do that. Let me—"

His hand reaches out to take the small brush away but she shakes her head and continues as little bits chink at the bottom of the bucket. "I must." Is all she says and for a time all that can be heard is the pops of the fire in the hearth and the glass falling in the bucket. Then, "I thought that guy knew something about the Sins, but it turns out he was just spewing the same rumors as most about how vile you all are and how you all plotted to overthrow the kingdom." Her sweeping slows as she gazes at the bar with such a disheartened visage his heart gives a pained _thump._ "I don't think it's vile that you've taken me in and taken care of me and plan to save the kingdom." She meets his gaze full on and it's like a blow to the stomach, "I'm so sorry my father—"

He shakes his head quickly and takes the brush from her lax hold as well as the bucket. "There's no need for that. Hold onto that resolve of yours and we'll see this through together Elizabeth. No matter what, definitely, even if I died, _I promise you this._ " The last of the broken glass is swept up as she gives an agreeing nod. Sitting down the bucket and brush he smooths his hands down the front of his vest and gives Elizabeth an encouraging grin. "You did amazing tonight, so how about I make you some dinner?" He offers this as if he doesn't do this _every_ night.

But Elizabeth lights up like a star nodding excitedly to make sure he knows her answers as if the exclaimed, "Yes, please!" wasn't enough.

Moving to the kitchen in preparation to cook is normal territory and a breath of relieving air to get away from strangely possessive responses. He absent mindedly opens a cabinet below to pull out a pot so that he can fill it with water. Perhaps that wasn't a possessive response but maybe a protective one. He did kick a full room of knights' assess over the same girl a while ago after all. So yeah, maybe this is the same thing. When he turns to find a cutting board he bumps into a body of warm curves and plump… _areas_ with a delicious waft of jasmine. His immediate response is to jump backwards with a startled yell, skin prickling for all the wrong reasons.

"You scare easily. It's cute," She titters behind a hand.

Meliodas looks away as his arms cross tightly. "What are you doing in here?"

"You said I could cook with you tonight." She informs him as if he should be aware of this fact more than she.

He did say this the previous night… to get out of cooking with her then. "Damn it." He mutters under his breath. The window repair went smoother than he thought before so maybe if he gives her something she can't possibly screw up or do bodily harm to herself… "Can put the vegetables carefully in the broth when I tell you to, please?"

He turns in time to see her frown in dismay. "You're not making spaghetti?"

Meliodas blanches. He couldn't stomach the meal no matter how good it is having eaten it for so long with it being a favored menu item. "Err some other time." He says noncommittally. "Now remember, no touching the knives, the peeler, or anything sharp in general, okay?"

"You can count on me!"

He certainly hopes so.

Gathering and cleaning the vegetables he specifically had in mind for that night is simple, he even lets Elizabeth rinse them as well. Going in to chop up the carrots and celery is even easy almost methodical as Elizabeth listens and places each vegetable in the simmering broth with care. He begins to wonder if he was overreacting over a few simple mishaps she's had over the weaks. Maybe letting her do a few things on her own won't be so bad. Having her there beside him certainly feels nice and comfortable.

Then the peeling of the potatoes begins. Elizabeth wanders off out of view as he works on a batch where one potato happens to go missing unnoticed to him. It's only when a sharp cry, a thud, and a clatter fills his ears does he notice the discrepancy. He whirls around already choking on his heart expecting to see blood spewing in _every_ direction. But she's just there standing in the middle of the room, holding onto her finger for dear life with a fragile expression on the brink of waterworks.

Although less gruesome than he imagined the image still doesn't sit well with him at all. He closes the space between them and gently cups her hands where she still holds her hurt finger in a death grasp. "Let me see it… it'll be fine," He coaxes tenderly as his thumbs run across her knuckles.

Gingerly she reveals the wound for him to examine which he does with keen eyes and worry tight under his skin. "I was w-watching you c-closely and thought I could help as well. I'm sorry."

It's a slit of angry red against her pale flesh, not too deep thankfully, and only needs wrapping and pressure applied to stop the blood, which he tells her. Grasping a handkerchief to hold over her finger as a makeshift for now he tells her kindly, "I'm not mad at you, Elizabeth so don't be upset." Even though he should be. She didn't listen to him. But how could he be mad with such an… expression…

He looks up to see Elizabeth gazing down at him and to their hands held between their chest and back again, lower lip slightly protruding from the well of tears she'd forced back at his gentle urging. Up so close he can't help but notice the cute shape of her nose or the round curve of her cheeks lightly dusted in pink. She's utterly radiant in the flames that light up the room with her doe like eyes managing to steal the breath from him.

Elizabeth's fingers come to wrap around his and he wonders if she feels the the quiver that dances beneath his skin. Again her eyes flick to where they both hold her wound. Then she meets his eyes for several charged moments. "Kiss it to make it better?"

Every individual beat of his heart pounds in his ears as his breathing stutters. _'_ _Kiss it to make it better?'_ They're simply words in his mind a hopeful plea from Elizabeth that he tries to interpret through the short circuit in his brain. He hasn't glanced away from her eyes just yet, trapped in some hold he can't explain. When her fingers twitch around his, he reacts without thought, incapable of it now. He stretches up a bit and pauses for only a split second. Warm, smooth, wondrous lips are pressed snugly against his and his eyes fall shut as his pulse quickens dramatically. He holds there for a moment, a gentle capture of lips that weakens his limbs and threatens to stop his heart. It's perfectly chaste in every way and yet he surges with tingles, becomes woozy with the sudden drop of blood flow. And then he begins to pull back only for Elizabeth to tentatively reciprocate his kiss. The soft noise of their lips parting is carried with him as well as the taste of raspberries.

Meliodas struggles to catch his breath, gut twisted pleasantly after such a sensation. He looks into her eyes wondering if he'll see the same emotions playing there too. Instead he freezes. There's surprise swelling there the most, then a demure presence quickly shadowing it, rounded out by a pleasant thrum he outright ignores. A horrible realization hits when he understands her obvious meaning to her words. She meant for him to kiss her finger _not her._ His hands pull away from hers as his eyes widen. "I'll… I-I'll be back," He gasps out before smoothing around her, not without flicking off the burners do to his ingrained compulsion however.

"Meliodas?"

She's ignored as he finds the exit as swiftly as possible. Honestly, he's no better than the drunkard from earlier.

~.~.~

The frigidness of the shingles beneath him and the night air around him are refreshing. Invigorating even. He needs to have his mind cleared, his thoughts cleansed after that debacle. But like a moth to its ultimate demise his thoughts as of late seem to find their way back to her.

So... he finds her quirks appealing, her downright beautiful, and an overall joy to have in his life. _He likes her_. And that would've been fine and dandy if he hadn't gone and kissed her like an infatuated admirer. He doesn't even know how he managed to pull that off as he usually freaks out when confronted abruptly with things of that nature needing time to warm up to the prospect. But Elizabeth is different. She's both frightening and thrilling. Bothersome and endearing. She's opposites that meld into something purely desireable to him and it's silently driving him mad.

A thumping to the side draws his attention to Elizabeth crawling along the roof, determination hardening the lines in her face. He would help her but that would demean her effort, so he decides only to step in if it seems like she'll fall. Eventually she makes it safely over to his side where she braces the heel of her boots against a few shingles and takes a place beside him. Her warmth is immediately noticed in the chill as well as her scent when the wind picks up for a moment, blowing both of their hair about. He looks ahead instead of where he wishes to. "What are you doing? You'll catch your death out here."

"I'll catch my death inside with no food," she jests with a tiny laugh that lifts his lips a smidgen. "This was the last place I could think of to look and… here you are." He finally turns to see her face finding her eyebrows drawn together as she looks deeply confused. "Why did you run away?"

Air swells his chest and yet it feels like he can't get words out for a long while. Something white wrapped around her finger pulls his gaze and he laughs at the sight of how mummified her finger looks from the numerous wrappings she placed upon the digit. With a shaky hand he reaches for it and finds it crackling like fire against his skin, though this doesn't stop him from undoing the dressing and redoing them correctly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I misunderstood and… damn it, I took something pressure from you when I shouldn't have." Who'd want their first kiss to be with a criminal, right?

"Don't be silly!" She scoots even closer to him until shoulders and thighs are brushing and his cheeks sting—and not from the cold. "I liked the kiss. It was a pleasant surprise." She breathes sweetly, her breath coming out in wispy puffs that dissolve along his face. "Is that why you're upset?"

"I… I-I—" _have lost all sense of my tongue._

"You're so red, Meliodas!" And then a shock travels through him in a full bodied wave when she casually leans over and plants a lingering kiss against his apparently flushed skin. "It's cute!" Her hand wrapped around his gives a tight squeeze before she pulls away and walks across the roof back the way she came. "Come on! I'm so hungry…."

He sits stiff for a moment locked in place, replaying the last few moments over and over to try and prove they somehow took place. Beyond the nerves warring with bliss, a tiny smile makes it through unscathed, a soft sign of content.


	3. Chapter 3

**~2~**

" _You agreed. Please... Don't try and convince me to change my mind too."_

 _"I know... Damn it, I know. It's just... I don't want to lose you_."

His breath rasps in his throat in waking as if suffering the worst of night terrors. Soft material is clutched so tightly between his fingers his arms shake. His eyes stare wide almost blankly at the ceiling, for seconds that drag to what feels like eternity. Then his lungs fill fully, swelling his chest and his hands release their death grip. Even without reaching up to his face he knows tears stain his skin. He can feel the moisture rolling down his flesh bearing a weight he can never seem to define after these dreams. Because no matter how many he's had at this point they always fade away without a trace.

So with a heavy breath he wipes his arm across his face then pushes himself up in bed. A dim grey glow from his window catches his eye and he turns to it only to moan. Of course more snow came in overnight despite spring drawing nearer by the day. Sliding from beneath his bedding Meliodas considers it a benefit in the end however. The snow works wonders in hiding the sheer magnitude of the Avallo's true scale. Turning green eyes in the direction of his bedroom door he almost expects Elizabeth to burst in like the ray of sunshine that struggles to cut through the clouds these days. But it stays silent which probably means he's up before her.

Taking this to his advantage he heads to his washroom to freshen up and quickly get ready for the day. As he's buttoning up his white shirt he finds his gaze caught in his reflection in the mirror recalling the day Elizabeth burst into his room as he'd dressed and all at once he's unable to focus on the mundane task with the princess so effortlessly filling his mind. Things haven't been the same between them since the kiss and the moment on the roof not long after despite how hard he tried to make things go back to the way they were. Usual moments where she'd thank him enthusiastically with bright smiles and claps now end with her snug against his chest in heart pounding hugs. Moments meant to teasingly scare him ending in her sweet giggles now consist of hands encircling his own trembling ones. And then there are the times when he just _knows_ , knows it like the tendrils of magic pulsing through his veins, that she had intentions in kissing him.

Meliodas lets his hands curl around the edge of the sink as his head hangs with blond locks slipping forward a bit to rest on either side of his face. He's done his best to evade these moments, pulling from her hugs with an excuse, taking his hands away to scratch at the back of his head with a nervous laugh, and all but running whenever he feels the pull in his gut when looking into the curious yet intense look that swells in those cerulean eyes. But Elizabeth is determined. He knows this and is quite fond of her persistence in most cases. The porcelain of the sink cracks slightly beneath his fingers as his eyes squeeze closed with his next thought. _'But she'll get me cornered one day and my skittishness won't stand against that will of hers. I know it.'_

Opening his eyes and allowing a breath to escape Meliodas brushes a hand over the tiny cracks in the sink making a mental note to fix it later. He leaves the washroom making sure to slide on his vest neatly while doing so. If he can hurry, he can have a big breakfast made for Elizabeth before she awakens. She did find some pretty helpful information on a possible lead the night before and he's feeling pretty generous. Hand curling around the doorknob Meliodas shakes his head. When does he not feel generous with Elizabeth?

The door opens with his pull. Then his mind instantly implodes with the image that awaits beyond. " _Elizabeth_!" His shout becomes garbled behind his hand as he roughly reaches up to grip his nose where the blood now racing upwards in pure shock escapes. However it begins to make a quick detour south as he stares openly in a mixture of horror and helpless desire.

"Good morning, Meliodas! I'm so happy you're awake!" Elizabeth grins unabashedly, gazing innocently upon Meliodas as if the sight she presents isn't really one at all.

But according to the light headedness, speeding heart, and horribly tight pants, he'd have to disagree. His eyes drink in every drop of liquid, every sloped curve, the lush swells of her chest, and the smooth V-shape between her thighs in a blink before he has to turn away or risk passing out from the lack of oxygen to his brain. " _What did I tell you about walking around with no clothes on_!?" He hisses in a voice high with stress. Damn it she's so beautiful, too perfect, and her scent exquisite...

He hears her feet shift and droplets of water hit the wood. "I felt dirty this morning and decided to take a bath. But it was lonely, so I came to see if you would join me?" She sounds all too hopeful in her plea.

Meliodas lets his bloody hand fall away when he's sure the leak is under control although those words threaten to send him for a loop all over again. He glares awkwardly at the ground knowing that his skin is flushed, it feels so hot, but he can't let her words get to him. He knows she says things bluntly, she has no idea of the double meaning. "Elizabeth..." He chides in a tight voice.

"Please..." Slender soaked palms encircle his forearm and he jerks, pulling away from the hot sparks that nearly suffocate him.

He hastily concedes. "All right! Just go ahead. I'll come." His face burns as he keeps his head away from her direction while waiting for her reaction.

A beat passes. "Thank you, Meliodas." The relieved tone flutters his heart before he listens to the slight creaks of the stairs as she makes her way back to her washroom.

He stands still for a moment as the water from her skin holds steadfast to his arm, a reminder of what awaits him. Then he shakes his head in a failed effort to escape the mess he's in. Trudging a bit stiffly to his washroom to grab a cloth to clean up the blood, he also makes sure to soak up as much of the water Elizabeth dripped on the stairs on his way after her.

~.~.~

"I'm so happy you came!"

He sits to the side of her bath with his arms tightly wound across his chest. The heat hasn't abated his skin a bit. He shifts his legs a bit tighter together. And unfortunately neither has his problem. "I don't see why I have to be here with you everytime, Elizabeth."

The shower curtain between them rustles, then a head pops under it cutely complete with soaked silver locks and big blue eyes. "My servants always attended to me and they made cleaning up very enjoyable." He turns his head to see her watching her finger make a wet trail along the side of the bath as her lips form a pout. "I like having your company here, though you don't play with me as much..."

His eyes dart ahead as a renewed throb in his groin causes him to wince. "It's not appropriate for me to be here with you, Elizabeth. Maybe when we gather the Sins one of them can take my place..." His mind goes to Diane and Merlin however problems immediately start to arise. Diane being a giantess and Merlin with her experiments might have trouble obliging the princess.

Water splashes to the floor as Elizabeth moves sending more of the jasmine scent around she seems to ooze. He'd twitch from the mess if he weren't locked in the image the full-length mirror in the corner provides. The lantern in the room is turned up high banishing just about any shadow in the room while shedding the perfect array of flaring light. It's easy for him to see as a result Elizabeth lean from the bath all moist curves flushed from the warmth of the water. He snaps his gaze away daring to believe it to be an illusion, but reality faces him sweet, lovely, and so coy as her fingers cup his gaping visage allowing water to trail down the rigid lines of his skin.

"I don't want their company _here_ , Meliodas..."

He sees it coming, can taste it in his next breath, and even tries to stutter out a protest. But like he knew before, Elizabeth is a force to be reckoned with. Again he feels her lips on his, can taste the sweetness of her mouth more potently than a ripe berry plucked from its vine, and is sure the drum of his heart echoes throughout the washroom. It's incredibly easy to let himself get lost in the soft, smooth feel of her, but what's _right_ is a thing that's deeply ingrained in him. It gives him enough strength to pull back with a gasp, to open his eyes, which had fallen shut in a daze, and breathe, "Do you know what you're doing, Elizabeth? You're a princess and I'm a condemned knight. This isn't something that should be happening."

The transformation of her features is instant. Easily as flushed as he from the chaste kiss, the shy curve of her lips now shifts into a stern line. She doesn't let him drift away any further not letting the heady blanket twisting around them abate in the slightest. "According to the kingdom we're _both_ criminals. And even after we set everything back to the way it should be, you're still a _person_. A person I happen to like very much..." The fuzz of hopeful desire begins to take over her eyes again and he loses what fills his lungs.

He quickly works to resolve that by capturing her mouth and taking her released breath as his own. His nerves take a back seat, her words having sparked a drive within him almost beyond his control. The chaste feel of the kiss falls quickly away into a heat pooling, lip melding, tongue gliding, intoxicating sensation. The fullness of her lips swells against his persistence. Her cheeks come under his fingertips, warm and mesmerizing. He finds himself devouring her essence and the tiny sounds she makes when he nibbles on her flesh. The feel of her fingers reaching into his hair to grip causes his skin to race with tingles sharp and electric. And with a low noise of approval he begins to trail his lips away from her deeply reddened ones down her jaw and to her neck where his nose presses for a moment while he breathes in her natural perfume. His lips mouth there a second later sucking, laving, and tasting as her pulse dances. Then a shuddered delicious noise fills her throat in the shape of his name and his clutch on her falters with the searing flash that envelopes him.

Meliodas draws back from her skin gradually, seeing the redness of a bruise already beginning to form. When he's enough away he spots her eyes heavy on him shadowed in delicate need. This is what begins to drag his nerves from suppression. As well as a sudden hand pressing against the throb between his legs. He reverts back to embarrassed outbursts while turning away to hide his predicament as if he hadn't just kissed Elizabeth with sinful heat. " _Elizabeth don't touch there!"_

He doesn't see the way she sinks back into the tub, resting her chin onto her arms crossed on the edge. "Your pants are bulging again. Why do they do that? They're not like that always..."

She truly sounds curious which only makes his skin prickle more intensely in both fluster and need. "It's because I'm... excited." He mumbles hoping she doesn't catch the words.

"Excited? But they don't get like that after a successful night at the bar. I've looked." Now confusion clouds her voice though he's more shocked by her apparent observing of his lower regions.

"This is a different kind of excitement, Elizabeth." He shifts his legs thinking he should leave after all that's transpired, to put distance between the two, but Elizabeth isn't ready for that yet.

"Really? What excites you then?" It's a simple question posed quietly and earnestly.

Though it still somehow makes his throat dry and his heart thud erratically. He gives her a long look over his shoulder before he husks, " _You_."

He doesn't wait for a response and instead picks himself off the floor heading for his own washroom, hoping his hand will be enough for a quick bit of relief.

~.~.~

Meliodas is not a thing like she expected.

Elizabeth stands in front of the mirror in her room pulling on her dusky yellow uniform shirt as her mind focuses on the intriguing bar owner. She'd assumed the Captain of the Sins would be perhaps a brusque figure, maybe even a bit cruel being the Sin of Wrath, but he's anything but. He can be snarky, dry with his humor, easily frightened, and incredibly kind and driven by the principles that made the kingdom what it is—before the corruption of the Holy Knights that is.

Finishing with the buttons that can be done up over her bust, Elizabeth begins fixes her collar while humming a lovely tune when her gaze lands on a forming bruise along her neck. Her fingers brush lightly over it as her lips twist upwards softly. His differences is what make her feel like she can be just an "ordinary Elizabeth" instead of "princess Elizabeth". He makes her feel comfortable and happy, like saving the kingdom is really a possibility. The draw to him was an unexpected reaction too, but one she's entirely enthusiastic about.

Elizabeth lets her fingers play over the bruise where Meliodas' lips were for a while longer before grasping her panties lying on the messy bed quickly pulling them up her thighs afterwards. Running her hands through her damp hair to push it out of the way, she thinks of the first time she saw Meliodas and how her immediate thought of him was _handsome_. That's _never_ happened before. Sure she's grown up around knights that she thought of as cute, had little crushes every other week. But the flutter in her gut as Meliodas circled around her irked with her causing such disarray in his bar had been a curious intense thing that hasn't left her _once_. In fact, it's simply grown as she's seen more of him, sides of him she doesn't even think he's realized she's noticed.

Oh and that _kiss_. Or rather kisses.

Elizabeth flushes deeply as she finishes strapping her knife to her hip the last part of her attire. Her first kiss was the sweetest, most tender sensation she's ever experienced. _Perfect_ , with sparks that lingered for hours afterwards. Thoughts of first kisses, dating, courting, or anything of the sort was always hinted at by her ladies in waiting, urged to her by her father as she'd be taking the throne before she even knew it. But Elizabeth hardly even feels as if she's had the chance to live, to experience what life has in store. Every time she thinks of the possibility of _Meliodas_ however, she can't help but want to give these things a chance, to delve deeper into his quirks, and to show him all of her own. She has a deep feeling, like all of the strange new experiences she's had with Meliodas thus far, that the path in life she's been walking has been leading her right to him all along.

Pulling her bedroom door open with a bright smile, she intends to close the gap between them once more.

~.~.~

Focusing on nothing but the colors around him, the scents surrounding him, and the task ahead of him, Meliodas sufficiently creates a block within his mind of any inappropriate thoughts that attempt to bleed there of the princess while setting up breakfast. It works quite well actually. His hands move in a diligent manner when cooking the eggs, bacon, and toast. Two plates are made and brought to a white clothed table in the bar where they are sat neatly. Nothing is out of place and is exactly as they should be.

But then they're not when feet come bounding down the stairs and his equilibrium is thrown out the window as a body launches into his with an elated sigh of his name. He flails for only a split second before his hands fall to her waist gripping to steady. Any attempts at forgetting her smell, her warmth, or her enveloping presence are lost when he looks up into her smiling features. And then she's leaning down and his mind blurs in what he can only be described as heaven.

"Thank you for the breakfast! I already know it's going to be so good," she tells him easily, sliding her hands from his shoulders and taking her pink lips from his.

Meliodas blinks slowly as he watches her sit, only nodding as he knows his voice is hidden somewhere beyond the tightness in his throat. At least he knows now that she has no plans of letting him slink away from this new intimacy building between them. Taking his seat beside her, he can only hope that he's doing the right thing here with her.

By the time he grasps his own utensil and looks over at her a third of her breakfast has vanished. Despite himself a fond grin lights his features which she happens to catch.

A crinkle near her eyes forms she's smiling so wide. "I want to learn more about you, Meliodas. Can I ask you some questions?"

A sloped smirk forms at this. "As long as you answer the same ones."

"That's fine with me," she nods. Then she launches into her first question slowly giving him the feel that he's being lured into a false sense of calm. "So... What's your favorite smell?"

Such a bizarre, _Elizabeth_ , way to begin. "Jasmine." He answers without hesitation. The scent hadn't been special of course until she appeared. "You?"

She seems to think while polishing of most of her plate. "Hmm, I like the smell of the woods, but not just any old woodsy smell. I like the scent that comes after the rain when it's really strong and fresh..." Her gaze trails downward in a shy manner then lifts up and lingers on him jolting his heart as he turns away.

 _'So that's how she thinks of me...'_ A clatter of her fork causes him to recall his own breakfast which he resolves to finish quickly just as she brings up another question.

"What are you best at?"

Her eyes are intent upon him causing an involuntary dusting to form in his cheeks as he leans back in his seat crossing his arms. "Well I'd have to say sword fighting and mechanics."

"Yeah, the Avallo is amazing! I'm sure there's parts of it I haven't even seen! And I'd really love to see you sword fighting too. I used to watch the knights in Liones train all the time, but you'd probably be something entirely different." Elizabeth admits while reaching her hands out to him surprising him when she pulls his arms free of their locked position and begins to run her fingers along the cord of muscles on the one closest. His eyes follow the path of fire they leave in their wake trying not to show the way his breathing continuously catches at the sensation. "I'm not sure what I'm best at. My whole life I've been tutored in various lessons on how to be a proper Princess, learning about the history of my kingdom and its people. I haven't really had the chance to explore..." She bites her lip and her hand smoothes along his so soft and inviting. They intertwine naturally and he gives her an encouraging squeeze.

"Don't worry about it, Elizabeth. Just promise me you'll give me an answer to that one when you figure it out."

"I promise." She looks to the window and something triggers an urgent response from her as she bounces a bit in her chair causing him to lift an eyebrow. "This is the last question because we have to go to town, remember?"

Right! He almost forgot being so close to her. He blinks and is startled to notice that they've moved closer overtime somehow, now their stools resting less than a foot apart.

"Have you had any past lovers?" She's playing with his fingers not the least bit bothered with the question.

But the words set of something wholly unpleasant within him, twisting his gut and filling his lungs with more ice than outside their little haven. He chokes. The word, _Yes_ , comes to mind, and yet his mind's blurred. He can't think, the memories—

"Meliodas?"

Quickly hiding what he can of the odd, bone chilling response, he offers a smile that hardly adds life to his face. "Yeah, I have."

She studies him quietly for a while and it's then he notices his hands are shaking. "Did things end badly?" She says real quiet.

He looks away and again his stomach lurches without reason. "Yes," the answer comes unbidden.

A hand softly sweeps along his jaw and he eases some. "I'm sorry."

But she shouldn't be. He doesn't know why he's behaving so weirdly. Forcing everything out with a harsh breath Meliodas moves to gather their plates and instead suggests after seeing her uniform, "Maybe you should change into something warmer. I wouldn't want you to get sick out there."

Elizabeth seems to see this as she looks down at her partially revealing attire. "Oh! You're right... I'll be right back!"

Being left alone for the moment to clean the dishes, he tries to poke at the memories that seemed so harrowing to him, but no matter how hard he digs, it's like sand through a strainer, he can't put heads or tails to them. He decides it doesn't matter in the end, at least for now, when Elizabeth's footsteps announce her return. They have a town to get to.

Hands on both of their coats, he turns as she questions, "Is this better?"

The coats slip from his grasp.

The black pants perfect to combat cold fit her figure almost sinfully well. The turtle neck soft pink sweater is just the right amount of sweet to get his blood going. Is it better? _It's fucking—_ Meliodas gapes fish style then makes a strange strangled sound when he catches her gaze focused almost keenly on his crotch where he's no doubt giving her his answer. Spinning around so he doesn't have to see that elated grin of hers— _what's there to be excited about damn it_!?—he can't help but think that she had to have planned this. That perhaps she was testing out something...

She takes him by surprise again wrapping him in her hold from behind so that her lips brush against the shell of his ear. "I think I'm starting to understand a bit more now. Don't worry! You excite me too..."

Elizabeth lets him go as she starts up a pleasant hum. Donning her coat she opens the door then walks out with a bounce in her step. The chill seeps into his bones in a much needed way. So sweeping up his own coat and refusing to let his mind give way to images of what her words could possibly mean, he decides to walk without it for now, following behind his princess as he seems destined to do.

~.~.~

Standing at the edge of Bernia village, Elizabeth hides her anxiety well behind an awed smile. Her eyes flutter left and right observing the state of the buildings and the milling people only gradually relaxing when she sees that no one is under duress. _'The Holy Knights haven't spread the reign of terror here_.'

A hand collecting hers rough and toasty warm startles her into facing Meliodas. He looks calm, maybe a bit calculating as he eyes the village before a tender look settles when those green eyes land on her. "Can you look around and see if there's any definite word on where we can find a Sin here, please? We know there's been some strange sightings here, but that's all."

A rush of beats swirl deep in her belly and she knows she'll do everything in her power to follow his words. "I will."

A chilly breeze picks up tousling his blond locks as he grins lopsided at her. "Be discreet and..." He pulls a pouch from his pocket and steps closer to deposit it in her own. "Just in case something catches your eye." He seems playfully exasperated by the idea, squeezing her hand a bit to emphasize this.

She stares wide eyed at him as emotions batter against her ribs. "Meliodas..."

His hand her own hearth slips away as he pulls a deep green coat over his shoulders. "I'll be searching too. Meet back here at luck time, all right?"

Elizabeth pulls her own white coat around her tighter as if to hide her pounding heart and nods resolutely with bright pink cheeks. Receiving her response Meliodas walks easily into town. And Elizabeth watches for awhile drawn to the man with different sides. Taking her own path into the cluster of people and buildings, she can't help but think of how much control he wields when he desires, how much power he has beneath his skin. It's breathtaking how strong yet gentle Meliodas can be. This mission is important to him and he's doing it for _her_.

"Excuse me fair maiden, would you be interested in these fine wear?" A voice to her right calls.

"How about these trinkets? They'd look divine on you." One on her left shouts.

"How about a tool? Every home needs fixing!" Further down she hears an offer.

Elizabeth lifts her head and looks around surprised to see various vendors staring at her expectantly. Her finger points to her chest. "Me?"

"Yes, of course! You're not from around here lady," the stout woman selling clothes informs her.

Elizabeth has been to many villages at this point, but none of the vendors have been quite so bold. Intrigued she drifts closer eyeing the different clothes with starry eyes monetarily forgetting her task as she's shown item after item, shiny bobble, after another. Her eyes are on a particular brush, one that's ornate and silver, but then she remembers the tool vendor. The old man who mans the shop is helpful in showing her all sorts of contraptions and many things that make her head spin. Though one thing steals her attention.

"What's this doohickey?" She squints and brings a finger to the small cylindrical object with holes running up its sides.

The man crosses his arms as he stares at it too. "Well that there... Well I don't exactly know. I haven't been able to get that off my hands for years little lady."

Elizabeth stares at it for a while longer then snatches it up with a smile. "I'll take it, Sir!" Extracting her pouch she hands over several silver coins to the stunned old man. "Will this cover it?"

He grasps the money thankfully. "Y-yes... Yes, thank you!"

Elizabeth leaves the shop with thoughts of giving the strange item to Meliodas as a gift. She stares at it for a bit longer before pocketing it. "He'll know what to do with this."

A sharp noise flows through her ears carried on the wind, turning her head and stilling her breath for a moment. Her eyes stare wide and focused towards the far side of the village where trees begin to sprout thickly. Elizabeth looks around seeing the villagers mostly huddled in the establishments now that the slight commotion of her arrival has dimmed. Again the sound rises snapping her head in that direction and she realizes it's the sound of someone crying out.

Without a thought she rushes through the snow, the thick layer crunching harshly under her boots on her haste. This doesn't sit well with her in the least. Someone's in danger and she's going to have to do something about it.

Her breaths trail behind her in quick puffs as she gains ground. Quickly the buildings are traded for slumbering trees, the forest dissolving into muted grays as her pace slows. Elizabeth can hear the sound of struggle more distinctly now and is mortified by the high pitched sounds only a child can make. Gasping as she takes off once more it only takes a few twists and turns before she spies two knights manhandling a young boy towards a ready wagon behind them.

"Let me go! _Let me go you filthy creeps_!"

Elizabeth can easily spot the tears of distress upon the ginger haired boy's cheeks and feels her fists tighten immensely.

"You've insulted the Holy Knights you little brat. A good Baptism is what awaits you now. You'll learn the proper way of thinking soon enough..." The skinny knight in silver armor assures with a dark laugh.

" _Leave him alone_!" Elizabeth's eyes burn fierce in their direction as she nearly trembles in outrage. She knows she can't stand against two knights on her own, but she'll be damned if she just watches them take away a child to such hell.

Both knights stop as the boy looks to her in growing hope. The shorter knight easily draws his sword with a sneer. "You'd best run along before you to join in his ceremony!"

Elizabeth takes a step forward, gritting her teeth before she pauses, her eyes flicking to the young boy's. If she can't win against them, there really is no other way. "Let him go and take me instead. A young woman should be worth much more than a little boy." She states reasonably.

The two knights share a weighted look. Then the boy is thrown forward in their haste to grab at her. Elizabeth's heart jump starts as everything seems to slow. She sees the boy running safely back to his village just as she'd hoped, but in the same instant two sets of hands draw near her arms like cuffs that'd be near impossible to escape. With a trembling breath that sends time blazing ahead of her, she gasps the knife hitched to her hip and swings for the hand that reaches her first. Hollers fill her ears, churning her stomach as she makes a startled sound at the sight of crimson staining the white snow. She isn't given much time to react after.

" _You bitch_!" The roar sounds to her left and she jumps back while wildly swinging her knife. Again she connects, having slashed the short knight's face forcing a keen yowl from him.

Pumped on adrenalin and jittery terror despite her resolve to fight until she can no more, her lack of focus leads her to missing the other knight's recovery. Roughly her hair is gripped until she feels the roots pang in agony. Her body thrashes as she opens her mouth to scream only a fist collides with her nose and mouth so forcibly her vision whitens briefly and her mind fills with a white hot agony that spills out in stinging tears. She coughs in a splatter of blood being held up by her hair in the hold of the knight.

"Down girl, or there's more where that came from." The words are bitter and hissed in her ear.

"You all are nothing but filthy bastards," she rasps through blood and tears still shakily holding onto her knife, just waiting for the right time.

She doesn't see the short knight coming, only filling the fist practically embed itself into her stomach ripping a strangled sound from her as she gags and groans excruciatingly. Her body is thrown into the wagon right after where she rolls to a painful stop. One follows in after her and she assumes the other goes to guide the horse. Her heart thuds erratically as she opens her eyes blearily to see the knight nearing her. Her hand tightens on the hilt of the knife and she squeezes her eyes closed with a stuttered breath.

The knife is thrust towards his throat.

She chokes terrified at the feel of an icy palm encircling her wrist. There's no delay in her punishment. The bone is quickly snapped within his hold and instantly her throat is worn raw as she screams shrilly. Elizabeth thrashes as she tries to pull away, the knife having long since been dropped at the cruel urging. This pain makes her forget how to breathe. It fills her with a nauseating wish to become numb to it all.

Eventually the knight lets her arm go and the continuous sound she emits twists into heartrending sobs as she tries to curl into herself. The wagon thuds and rattles as they travel through an unmarked trail within the forest, this being completely lost on the bloodied, battered princess.

Rough fingers grasp her chin though she refuses to open her eyes to look at the deranged eyes studying her as she cries. "You know you were definitely right about being worth more than that pathetic pest." A slight grating of metal sliding against wood. "Let's see how much you'll go for then, shall we?"

When she feels her sweater and coat pulled away from her stomach then the sound of ripping material as they're sliced open down the middle allowing a chill to soak deep in her bones, she thinks of Meliodas, prays for her knight to save her where she couldn't save herself.


	4. Chapter 4

**~3~**

Meliodas strides calmly through the village with green eyes sliding left and right for places to start. Inwards however he's fretting over his departure with Elizabeth. He wonders if perhaps he came on too strongly. Maybe that was the reason for her unusual bashful reaction? She'd seemed so flustered by his desire to make sure she was taken care of from all angles, but isn't that how he normally behaves?

Meliodas scrunches his eyebrows pensively as his head bows slightly. "So what was different...?"

Another set of footsteps heading right for him is what forces him to stop abruptly nearly colliding with an elderly man with gray facial hair and tired albeit kind features. "Sorry, sir." Meliodas apologies with a sheepish smile.

"That's quite all right, young man. It appears you have a lot on your mind while visiting my village," the elder points out as his arms cross behind his back.

Meliodas' eyes widen marginally. So this is the leader of the village... "Yeah... I was just mulling over..."

"A lady of yours," the calm insert makes the old man smile.

Though Meliodas rears back like a cat approached with icy water. "No! Nothing of the sort!" _'How does he know!?'_ His mind shrieks.

"Don't look so shocked. I've seen such a look plenty of times," the man chortles in an aged winded sound. "But if you wish to skirt around the topic, what brings you to these fine parts?"

Meliodas relaxes dramatically as a heavy plume of air flows visibly from his mouth in the chill. "Well you see I've heard rumors of strange sightings happening around this village and I'm always interested in fascinating things of the sort."

The lines in the man's face seem to deepen with a terrible weight. Meliodas listens intently, internally preparing himself for the worse. "This isn't your normal scary story one would weave to the young ones to behave..."

"I'm into all sorts of scary stories, sir," Meliodas assures, his light tone long since having been traded for something low and severe.

The elder gives a final nod. "Holy Knights came to this village before the first snowfall of the year demanding we treat them to our renowned ale. They didn't care whether it was perfect or cut with horse piss, their intentions were to condemn our village, then demand we pay them a portion of our profits or they'd take away something from us each time we failed for their Baptisms."

Meliodas' fingers dig into his palms tightly pulling the skin over his knuckles taut until they're whiter than bone.

The old man shakes his head looking down briefly. "We failed to appease them the first time and lost a woman who was beloved by all the orphaned children. It was a heavy blow. But we have not failed since." The determined force to the elder's words intensifies beyond his grief. "We've discovered a way to make double the profit so that the portion we lose doesn't hurt the village."

Meliodas has to force himself to calm at this, to lose the edge to his jaw, the heat at his temples, and loosens his trembling grip. This village is already under the Holy Knights' thumb. The only way to free it is to destroy the root of the problem. However, "Well, I happen to be a proprietor of a fine establishment. I could use a few barrels of Bernia's finest." Meliodas declares with a wide grin.

The old man's grim outlook wavers then diminishes into a watery look of gratitude as he takes Meliodas' hand between his own. "Thank you, son."

The hopeful moment shatters beneath the sniveling cries of a young boy dashing into the elder's side. "The knights! They... T-They...!"

Both stare wide eyed at the boy as worry starts a terrible trickle through their veins. The aged man takes the boy by the shoulders and forces him to look up into his eyes. "Mead, what has happened!?"

"I was out by the woods when t-two of them appeared with a wagon." His head goes down hiding his tears and dirtied appearance as shame creeps into his words. "I just... I hate what they did to Auntie! So I played a mean trick on them."

"Mead, how could you!?" The ice of the wind carries the distraught cry of the elder for seemingly leagues. Slowly villagers begin to emerge to see what the fuss is about, warily watching the scene unfold. Meliodas too stands by as something begins to grip his lungs, like claws looking to pierce making it so air is unable to reach him. But why?

"They were going to take me away, but this lady came and stopped them. She offered to take my place."

The noise he makes catches everyone's attention to the puncture of wounds he now bears inside. Her name croaks past his lips as he stares unseeingly, his power already spreading wide enough to feel her and the agony she's in. He sprints through the questioning looks with only one knowing, heart bleeding terror through his veins as he realizes his mistakes. He should've kept tabs on her, should've never left her alone. But he thought it would be good for her to explore on her own especially in such a small village.

He curses as his lungs burn, hearing his panting breaths as his shoes crunch the snow eating away the distance between him and the princess in peril.

The moment he's swallowed in the gray of the woods, he loses a bit of himself to the shadows within. Sights become sharper, scents keener, and within seconds he easily finds crimson stained snow which causes his vision to darken in a mix of rage and utter fear. She's been hurt. He knew this before, but hadn't thought it'd be to such an extent.

He's up in the trees a moment later, leaping from limb to limb as he tracks a sound of rattling, heart wrenching tears, and the pull of needed revenge. His sword was left on the Avallo, but he has many more weapons at his disposal that he intends to use without inhibition. He hisses as his opposition of senseless killing wars with the want for their warm blood on his hands, their agonized screeches to fill his ears until their voices go raw, and the sheer unmistakable creases of excruciating pain etched into their faces before their eyes lose light...

In the end the hidden nature he's kept beneath lock and key for ages decides for him when he halts dead on a branch, the image within the wagon imprinted in his mind as he grows unbearably cold.

Her nose and mouth are horribly blotchy with reds and deep purples as blood oozes from each from a no doubt vicious blow. Tears track her cheeks like dams left in ruin. He's seen her cry once before, but this is so much worse because in a way it's his doing. His failure to keep her safe. Meliodas feels a burn at the back of his throat unable to drag in a breath as the weight atop his chest just continues to grow.

His eyes latch onto the knight beside her seeing him pull apart the clothes covering her torso in order to drag a hand leisurely along her flesh, and twin tears dampen his cheeks before his consciousness is dragged beneath inky shadows.

Meliodas sees flashes of imagery every so often and he thinks he's experiencing a gruesome dream.

He's in a forest where a cracked wagon lies with a beautiful, broken maiden in its depths. Another moment he sees a knight beneath him in snow covered ground that steadily darkens with red. His fists pound into the unrecognizable face in front of him over and over again. He can feel the vibration of such collisions through his bones, feel slick blood and shattering of bone with an almost pleasured kind of relish. And the garbled screams the knight emits are like precious fire in his veins. His fingers puncture the man's chest with a practice ease splattering blood across his face and the visions fade.

The next thing he sees is a knight crawling across the ground legs missing below the knee caps screaming himself ragged. Another instant Meliodas is strangling him as a dark sound of laughter bubbles up his throat that could be mistaken as deranged crying. His fingers tighten, tighten, _tighten_ until blood oozes from the knight's facial orifices and he finally goes limp. Darkness swells again.

The next and last flash is a little different. Meliodas creeps hesitantly towards the wagon almost like a wary animal. But he doesn't feel afraid of the woman smelling of jasmine and blood there. He's frightened of her reaction towards _himself_. Still he draws closer until he climbs into the cold, creaking wood. The silver haired girl lies there very still and for a moment his body goes rigid in alarm thinking she's dead. But when he crawls closer, he merely find her asleep from her wounds or perhaps shock. A curious thing happens as Meliodas experiences this surreal string of dreams. He curls around the girl's body, pressing his nose tightly to her neck as he inhales her scent, then his entire body begins to quake. Tears drip from his eyes never ending.

The darkness envelopes him a final time.

~.~.~

The ceiling he wakes up to is entirely unfamiliar. Ice encases his spine as he tries to recall the last clear memory that comes to mind whilst he sits up in the small bed in clothes not his own. His eyes focus intently at the bruises on his knuckles another oddity as his thoughts flood. _'I remember leaving the Avallo with Elizabeth then sending her off with a bit of money to search... Running into the elder.'_ His hand comes to his forehead as a throb begins to start a pained beat. _'Mead showed up and Elizabeth...'_

A shuddered breath fills the room as his pupils dilate in the vice of terror that refuses to let up. "Elizabeth." She's hurt. Where is she though? He goes to lift the blanket from his waist while attempting to rush from the bed at the same time, but his hands shake worse than quivering leaves and he becomes disoriented. Tangled in the sheets, he nearly topples to the ground if not for a steadying hand on his shoulder. His head snaps up revealing wild green eyes beneath straight bangs.

"Easy. Your lady is doing fine. We cleaned her up and did what we could for her wounds." The elder soothes as he helps Meliodas stand straighter. "She's across the hall."

Meliodas nods woodenly while managing to force out a quiet, "Thanks." The room he awoke in is quickly left behind with the elder following close behind. Meliodas can feel the searching gaze, the unease behind it, but shrugs it off the moment he walks into the next room. She lies peacefully almost swallowed into the cushion of pillows and sheets provided to her. Seeing her in that moment, he can't help but truly see how fragile she is with bandages surrounding her nose and encircling her torso, and the depth of her bruised lips. There's a strength inside however that burns unwavering, the same strength that led her to such a state.

Slowly he walks to the stool beside the bed then carefully picks up her hand not wrapped in bandages between his own. He shivers at the release of worry when he feels her warmth having almost thought they'd be ice to the touch.

"Mead told us where we would most likely find you both and the men of the village went out in search," the aged voice is almost a shock, Meliodas' attention having been drawn to the small breaths Elizabeth take. "They discovered you both soon enough... along with the two maimed and brutalized knights Mead mentioned."

The hairs along his neck stand stiff.

"You were covered in blood and unconscious wrapped around this lady."

Memories race through his mind far clearer and tangible than ever before. His eyes visibly quiver before he looks down with a hard set to his jaw. "I—"

"It's reasonable for a man to fly into a rage over the abuse of their lover." A hand falls heavily upon his shoulder. "Denying anything less would simply be taking the coward's way out."

Meliodas curls his hands tighter around her delicate warmth. He nods curtly knowing his reaction was far more malicious than simply protecting. No, he was _hunting_ and punishing those for the sin of hurting the girl who's becoming most important to him.

The hand slides of his shoulder as the old man hums in agreement. "She was awake before briefly and asked for you." A pause, "You both are more than welcome to stay until you're ready to leave, of course." His footsteps trail from the room, then begin to fade away.

A candle burns on the nightstand the only light source besides the sliver of moonlight that peaks through the curtain. He and Elizabeth were out for most of the day. He smiles emptily thinking of the moans of complaint she'd give for food if she were awake. His hands become unsteady around hers as a tremor of emotion wells erratically in his chest.

"Are you stupid? Or do you just not think?" He stares with hard eyes down at their hands refusing to stare at the peaceful image of her face tainted by his mistakes. It's almost like his go-to response to give a harsh scolding. "You should've come to me. I would've found Mead and stopped the knights with less damage than was done because..." He chokes up and without even realizing it tears begin to pitter in their landing on their twined hands. "Did you not trust me? Elizabeth, this... This was my fault wasn't it?"

"O-of course not... s-silly goose." His head pulls up sharply at the wobbly sounding tone to see Elizabeth's tender gaze right on him. "I didn't think it through... I j-just wanted to save him." She explains barely moving her lips.

He stares openly for a few moments knowing the shock of her awakening and relief of hearing her voice after what feels like ages plays across his eyes from which tears continue to pour. Sniffing he brushes them away with his sleeve and shakes his head lightly at her, opening his mouth to speak.

But she squeezes his hand. "Don't. I know you're going to blame yourself...but please don't. You saved me like I knew you would. They were going to... sell me off to some market..."

His breath catches in his throat and he has to lift her hand to bow his head against it in order to keep his wits about him. So that's why that knight was feeling her up. "How are you feeling?" He asks quietly. He doesn't want her in pain, but with the wounds she's sustained he can only imagine her suffering.

The fingers in his grasp lift and he allows them to smooth along his cheek immediately feeling his skin burn when his gaze finds her again.

"I feel achy all over... and it hurts to talk," the quiet halting response so different from her boisterous mannerisms causes a deep pang within him. "But I'm always... so happy when you're near... that ignoring the pain is easier."

His heart is strained within his chest at her words overwhelmed by the flutters of deep affection gusting in his stomach. When he sees a film of tears form over her blue eyes he thinks he's imagining them until they slide gently across her softened features. Instantly he's leaning towards her and brushing them away with his thumb as carefully as he can. Then he hesitates at the hands of nerves for only a second before laying a lingering kiss to her forehead. "It's okay, Elizabeth. No matter what, definitely, even if I died, I'll always find my way back to your side," he whispers against her passionately.

"You mean it?"

He leans back enough to meet her fretful gaze. The candlelight flickers dancing brilliantly across her pale skin and he knows in that moment if she weren't so hurt, he'd kiss her uncertainty away. "I mean it."

Their intense eye lock is broken by the sound of a growl... from someone's stomach. He can see her face attempt to shift into a pout until she winces instead. Her gaze turns pitying. "I'm hungry..."

He laughs despite himself finding the words music to his ears. He kisses her knuckles boldly which makes his stomach flip and a flush burn up to his hairline, but he doesn't care. He simply wants to take care of her. "I'll go see what I can do."

He can tell as he places her hand down while watching her that she's trying desperately not to giggle by the forced line of her lips. "I want to l-laugh... but it hurts."

"Well think of it this way, you can laugh at me as much as you want as soon as you heal up for me, okay?" He offers in a reasonable tone before leaving her to blink cutely after him.

Out in the hall he wounds tighter than a spring trap as his thoughts assault him. _'I'm in a relationship. Really truly in one... with Elizabeth_.' He stares blankly at the darkened ground in the hall as his heart pounds in fluster. He isn't concerned about her status, if anything he worries about what this will do for her. But other thoughts pester him still in response to the question Elizabeth posed just that morning. It's not like this is his first relationship... He just can't seem to recall his last one, or the ones before that. Hand woven in golden locks tightly, he rasps with an edge of panic, "Why is that?"

"Are you all right?"

His focus curls outward and he sees Mead a short distance ahead of him holding what looks to be a tray with two steaming bowls of soup. It's only then that Meliodas realizes how small the building he and Elizabeth are in with the short hall ending up in both the kitchen and living areas where a young woman and the elder both reside. He certainly hopes their conversation wasn't overheard... The door was left ajar after all.

"I'm fine." He eventually gets out.

Mead nods looking much tidier than earlier, then starts to make his way around Meliodas towards the room Elizabeth is resting in. Until Meliodas stops him that is.

"Is that for me and Elizabeth?"

Mead gives him a 'what do you think?' look, raised eyebrow and all.

Meliodas huffs slightly put off. He would have liked to have made her food himself. But he knows she'll be happy for the food sooner so he doesn't protest further, merely following after the child into the tiny room. Elizabeth perks up at the smell of the soup Mead carefully sits on the nightstand.

Her thanks is soft but no less enthusiastic.

Meliodas can see the uncomfortable twists in Mead's expression before he speaks. "I should be thanking you. You're hurt because of me."

Elizabeth's gaze turns nurturing, her words becoming ginger, "I'm just glad you're okay... and I could get you away from those vile knights."

Mead's nose begins to flare up as he rapidly tries to blink away tears and Meliodas too is happy the kid made it back. "T-thank you! Both of you!" His tiny feet patter across the ground as he hastily makes his way from the room leaving them both with lighter hearts.

A grumble from a certain belly makes itself known once more forcing Meliodas into action. First he very carefully holds her weight forward so that he can ease a few pillows behind her, then gingerly he moves her into a more propped up position watching her face for any significant signs of pain. When he deems her steady, he sits at her beside. Picking up one warm bowl and spoon, he discreetly smells the mix of broth, vegetables, and meat to see if it meets his standards. Blowing slowly on the hot mixture, he brings the soon towards her awaiting mouth. "I didn't make this you know..."

She eats without pause simply happy for the food. "I know... It still fills my tummy though."

He rolls his eyes playfully and continues to feed her truly seeing her eating habits as she vacuums up her meal without any signs of stopping.

Until she does with a pensive crease to her brows. "Can we continue o-our... question game from earlier? We can do it at meal times. It c-could be fun."

He studies the hopeful glint in her eyes and raises an eyebrow. "Sure... But why would you want to do that?"

A sort of wheezing breath comes from her as a laugh escapes its cage and he nearly drops the bowl of soup wanting to flutter around her to see if he can help. But she waves him off with crinkles of pain near her eyes. "I'm fine... I want to... because that's what people courting do, right?"

 _'She said courting, not dating... As in marriage is her end goal.'_ Slightly dazed he can only blink to hide the maelstrom of emotion building within him. _'She can't be serious...'_ "Elizabeth you've only just barely started... How could you possibly know if you want to be with me for that long."

She huffs and draws her hand to encircle his wrist a silent command to feed her which he does. She answers after a swallow sounding totally assured in her reasoning. "You just made a promise to... always be by my side for one. And my father has this gift of Vision. That's how he met my mother. He was... only ever with her. Maybe some of his gift rubbed off on me. I just know... or relationship isn't a wrong one."

He watches her sink into her pillows self assured and a bit winded after so many words as he struggles to comprehend the depth of her words. But perhaps thinking isn't what he should be doing. Feeling tells him this is exactly what he wants no matter how much he tries to find fault in it, so he simply nods warmly. "All right, what questions do you have for me?"

Elizabeth's eyes alight more brilliant than any star. "Do you have family?"

He falters. Feeding her the last of the bowl he tries not to let the knot in his throat be noticed. "A father and a brother."

Now she rests more heavily though she looks just as eager. "Really? Will I ever met them?"

He sits the bowl and soon down a smidgen too harsh. "Probably not."

He picks his own bowl up to avoid looking at her for a time only turning when she gives a quiet, "Okay."

"You already know of my father. My mother unfortunately... passed away when I was really young. I'm an only child... destined to become the next Queen."

This lightens him significantly. He'd follow her rule to the ends of time. When he begins to eat his meal her eyes flash to his bowl gaining a hungered glaze that dries his throat. Offering her some isn't even a question and the satisfied breath she gives is reward enough.

"Eat with me... I'm not going to take away your food," she insists. So they share in comfortable silence, conversing through their eyes how, in Elizabeth's case, eager and delighted, and Meliodas', content they are to be so close right now. It boggles his mind that he might even become closer with her in the future. He hasn't thought about being close with another person in so very long...

Empty bowls placed off to the side he takes up her hand in his again unable to resist placing the back of the silky soft appendage to his cheek. When she blushes he does to all the way to his ears but he holds steady even if she feels the tremble in his limbs from the erratic beats of his heart.

Though her eyes flick down for a moment a he catches a bit of uncertainty there that nearly makes him draw back until he hears her next words. "I'm going to ask you something... though I'm not sure how upset you'll be about it."

 _'_ _What_?' What could she possibly ask that would upset him?

Seeing his confusion she simply twists her hand so that her fingers graze his skin sweetly instead. "I would like to know... what race are you from, b-because I... I know you're not human."

He pulls away from her as if stabbed, paling dramatically while searching her face for any signs of terror.

She reaches for him determinedly grasping his hand that he slips from hers repeatedly until she finally just weaves their fingers together. "I know I'm not imagining things... Your eyes were black after you kissed me on the bath... and when that man asked me for a dance. I also think I saw black markings on your skin... in the forest. They were beautiful and deadly... You were an angel of destruction."

He bits his lip gazing down with watery eyes at their twined hands. Only Elizabeth could describe a monster like himself as an angel of sorts. His throat is almost too tight the lump of pure adoration to hard for him to swallow around. "I'm a demon." He whispers so quietly only she could possibly hear. He never thought he'd be admitting this allowed so ingrained into the life he's made for himself for years. It's always there however, at the back of his mind. No matter how far back he pushes it, how in check he keeps it, the shadows prevail. The instincts live on.

Elizabeth pulls her hand from his and he almost makes a strangled sound fearing hearing his admission changes every outlook she has on him. But when he feels her fingers weave into the back of his hair urging him to lean against her side the shuddered sigh he gives is nearly as heart gripping.

"Up," she orders an instant later, "I want you laying up here and comfortable. You always take care of me... let me take care of you for once." She breathes, steadily fingering his hair as his eyelids flutter.

He hesitates, wondering if sharing the bed with her is proper. But she makes an impatient sound and he gets moving. Carefully he helps her move over, then he climbs in beside her. She's quick to pull his head down to her chest instantly causing him to stiffen. She leans over the a puff of breath later, then candlelight goes out leaving them in a sliver of silvery light. Her fingers work through his hair and along his shoulders working to ease his tension replacing it with a fuzzy warmth that causes him to relax fully onto the swell of her chest. He tries not to breathe too deeply her scent which encourages the heady feeling he's sinking within. But the beat of her heart right against his ear does him in and he moans drowsily in pure heaven.

Just as he's on the cusp of a deep sleep Elizabeth murmurs into the crown of his hair, "If I weren't so hurt... I'd ask you to kiss me goodnight." She sighs, and he feels fingers skim at the base of his spine where his shirt has ridden up, "Sweet dreams, my knight."

~.~.~

"Meliodas!" The delighted shout startles him, but not as much as the hand latching onto the front of his vest in order to tug him forward forcefully.

His surroundings make themselves known in a massive splash. The water in the bath goes just about everywhere, on the walls, the floors, and soaking him straight to the bone. He scrambles up into a seated position, quickly wiping his face clear of water while gaping at every obsessive compulsive person's worst nightmare. "Elizabeth… _why?_ Do you know how long it's going to take t-to—"

Heart pounding in dismay as he gapes at all the soaked objects in the washroom his body gradually stiffens in more ways than one when he feels Elizabeth press against his side fully. Unclothed. All heat and delicious curves. Her palm slides up his chest and he makes a strange pleased sound when she brushes her lips to his cheek. "I wanted you to take a bath with me. _A proper one._ "

Her lips go back to teasing his skin, fiery and moist as she sucks low noises from him. His mind begins to want only certain things as he breathes her in, feeling that hand on his chest slowly begin to undo the buttons there. But he shouldn't let her do this. Her innocence should be protected. His hand snatches up her wrist, halting her work just as her teeth nibble a place on his neck that sends a volley of pleasure across his senses. "Elizabeth, don't…"

She lifts up brushing her button nose against his. Their gazes meld for a moment, the heat there just as intense and intoxicating as exchanging breaths. Then there's a moist sweetness as she slants her mouth over his, a teasing of tongues that causes him to groan and grab for her waist. He hisses out a breath as their lips slide apart, unable to resist dragging his fingers along the slope there in clear hunger.

The soft moan she gives while kissing and nibbling his lower lip in a kittenish manner makes the throb in his groin painful. "Let me take care of you…"

Breathing a bit staggered, he forgets how to speak watching the desiring smile she wears as she continues to unbutton his clothes, peeling off his vest and shirt with pure enthusiasm. The moment his bare torso is exposed her pink tongue swipes across her lower lip, the only warning he has before she leans over. A trail of slow breaths, flicking tongue, and careful nips urges a scorching heat to build with every press of her lips. His hands snap out as he gasps out moans and groans, feeling the curve of her spine and her thick wet tresses under his fingers with every jittery spark she evokes within him. His eyes watch her intently as his cheeks prickle uncontrollably. How did things get this far? How could he let such an amazing woman pleasure him so?

His thoughts blur and meld into exquisite pleasure a moment later at the feel of her palm pressing and rubbing right against his erection. A guttural moan escapes him as she continues to press and stoke him through his clothes urging him to grind into the friction. His heart begins to blare into his ears as his vision centers and focuses. When she lifts up with a coy grin, his hand on her back slips around her waist pulling her into his lap as she squeals. Panting as his eyes are faced with her supple flesh pale and flushed in needy areas, Meliodas plants his lips in the valley between her chest kissing and rolling his tongue there with intentions of worshipping her breasts, her belly, her slick slit…

"Meliodas, n-no… this is for you," She groans as his teeth tease a sensitive place under her breast. And to show this she brings her hands to the fastening of his belt, sliding them open.

Gasping for breath as they shift and tremble, he still trails his tongue after a path a drop of water takes down the curve of her breast, sampling her flesh simply because he can't get enough. Damn it, she has him hooked. Hooked on her words, her antics, her heavenly body…. He knows he should pull away, should give her the lecture of a lifetime. He shouldn't give into temptation, to the desire pooling heavily in his body deprived for over a decade. But as he latches onto a nipple with a pleasured hum, drawing a startled high sound of want from her making her grip his hair roughly, any of those options are the last thing on his mind.

" _M-Meliodas…"_ He can hear the heat in her breath and shudders himself when he feels her free him from his restraints. It's like a trigger. His hands fall to her waist urging her forward until he feels her, right against him, slick and blistering. Her nipple slips from between his teeth as he curses his good fortune.

Elizabeth reacts wholly different, latching her fingers onto his back until he feels her nearly break the flesh, her voice coming out in a sinfully low, croon, _"_ _Ooh my…"_

Feeling his pulse shake his body, Meliodas shifts them, leaning Elizabeth's back against the edge of the bath as he bows over her making sure her legs settle around his waist. They both breathe raggedly, gazing into the want darkening each other's eyes while the deep pull they feel for the other burns tightly in their guts. Hand shaped to the curve of a thigh, the other a shapely glob of ass, he begins to rock just watching her facial expressions. She seems like she wants to fight the pleasing sensations running through her, her desire to pleasure him still pretty high. But as he moves along her heated slit, her mouth falls open, her eyes glaze, and she begins to make the most delectable sounds he's ever heard. Each shift of his hips makes her shiver, her breasts bouncing just the slightest as she gets the idea to roll into his thrusts. It's hypnotic. The scent that washes off of her, watching the flush in her skin, listening to her pleasure rise.

Her satisfaction is his own, she should realize that. And that's becoming clear as his own arousal beads from his erection, his breathing turning rough with the tightening in his loins. Elizabeth's eyes seems to flash though when his grip in her flesh tenses and releases with a particularly slow roll across the length of her. Before he can even think, she pulls herself up into his arms forcing him to palm her ass in both hands as she gazes down at him with a plan in mind. Her silver hair dances all around them as she rocks in tandem with his upwards thrusts, throwing her head back to bear her neck as he begins to peg her clitoris with every stroke. He takes the offering, hiding his thick moans against her pulse as his mind whirls.

This woman is mesmerizing inside out, somehow finding herself liking him despite his _numerous_ flaws _. 'She knows of my heritage_ ,' he nips tenderly against the love bite forming behind her ear, holding her steady as her sounds become a bit more unsteady her breathing telling of her impending release. ' _And yet she hasn't run, she's not afraid. She wants me.'_ His heart pulses as her arms tighten around his neck, her body shuddering full on as a high pitched cry announces her end. Working swiftly he thrusts shallow and quick drawing out her pleasure until her quivering thighs and drawn sounds recede. ' _I want her.'_ He kisses along her shoulder as she gasps and moans sluggishly, coming down from her searing high. ' _I want Elizabeth as mine for as long as I can have her.'_

Feeling stiff and sticky with her sweet smelling essence, he allows her legs to slide from his hips, shivering as he mentally plays back the sounds she made, the faces she created knowing he'll dream of them for days to come. Elizabeth, always the determined princess, steals his breath away when she wraps her palm around his rigid length and begins to stroke unhurriedly. On his knees he watches her with a dry throat as she palms him, slowly but tightly, pulling pleasure up and down his spine as he races closer and closer to that coveted explosion, his breath scraping his throat at the feel.

"Elizabeth, d-don't…" he tries to say, knowing he's just on the cusp. But once more he can't deny how much he desires this, watching her with hungered eyes until they fall shut at the first forceful spurt of seed that makes his thighs tremble and her squeal in shock and delight. He breathes loudly and haltingly as he thrusts vigorously into her palm, giving more and more of his release until the last of it trickles from the head leaving him utterly boneless and soft in her hand.

He sinks to sit on his backside, expecting to feel what's left of the cooling water in the tub, only there's a sense of nothingness around him that abruptly forces his eyes open. Pitch blackness is all he can detect. It's a bizarre and fuzzy sensation with no scents or sounds from anywhere. He'd expected to share a sort of afterglow with Elizabeth, but whatever _this_ is springs chills across his flesh.

 _"_ _No matter how much you resist, you're stuck in a perpetual pull, Meliodas."_

His head swivels from side to side searching. _That voice._ Isn't that—?

 _"_ _It's meant to be… An unfortunate tragedy."_

His eyes snap open coming face to face with the pale skin of Elizabeth's neck. Breathing quickly, he looks around, noticing it's still night and they're still in the same bed they fell asleep in. The only difference is he shifted, his waist against the side of her hips and his hand scandalously on her inner thigh. He lurches away with a thumping heart, remembering every detail of the dream he had with absolute clarity. It must've been falling asleep enveloped in her presence that caused it. Looking over her face with a swallow, he's relieved to see her still sound asleep, unaware of his sleeping fantasy and the sticky mess he made while most likely rutting languidly against her hip.

Climbing from the bed more than a bit ashamed, he covers her in the blankets and heads across the hall, missing her blue eyes open to follow his way out. Once in his appointed room, he notices a dry stickiness across the fingers of one hand. Pondering it for a moment, then shaking it off as apart of his mess, he heads to the washroom to clean up as much as he can. Without even realizing it, he forgets about the mysterious end to his dream.


	5. Chapter 5

**~4~**

Elizabeth has been carrying a bit of guilt for several days now.

The return to the Avallo was a relatively smooth one with Meliodas carrying her through another fresh layer of snow to their home of sorts. This made the princess feel as if things could start fresh and anew, especially with their budding relationship. Meliodas seemed in higher spirits as well, even buying several barrels of ale from the village for the bar. But the true reasoning for his springy mood was the information she'd apparently missed on that morning.

He'd found a solid lead to the second Sin.

Of course Elizabeth was ecstatic to hear of this lead to the Forest of White Dreams. But in the several days it'd taken to travel in the Avallo to the desired forest, both her guilt and a newfound wariness within Meliodas steadily arose.

She first began noting his change when it came to her baths. Of course taking a blow of severe magnitude to her stomach left the area badly bruised and horribly tender, so walking on her own for a time was simply out of the question. Meliodas didn't seem to mind carrying her everywhere, it almost became second nature to him to keep an eye on her and make sure her needs were attended to. Such actions were endearing to Elizabeth and swelled a warmth nestled firmly in her chest every time his strong comforting arms wrapped around her.

But when he carried her to the bath, her body covered in nothing but a towel he always felt unreasonably tense and unsure. She'd at first thought it was because of his usual reaction towards her, the blatant excitement he can't seem to hide. She'd teasingly told him that it was okay, that she didn't mind while running her fingers through his hair and having the strong desire to kiss him—anywhere would do. But that had only made him rigid like a cold statue and she was left alone in her bath to sulk and lean forlornly against the rim of the bath.

She hadn't been able to figure out why he'd respond in such a way for a long while, her thoughts running over every possibility, even going to the worst: That maybe he wasn't physically excited by her anymore. She'd balked at the idea even as her heart plunged coming very close to shattering on the ground. But then she'd thought of that night when Meliodas had assumed she'd been sleeping. That's when it hit her.

He didn't find her unattractive. His dream must've centered around them in that very setting.

That's of course when her own guilt reared its ugly head and she found herself avoiding Meliodas' gaze more and more. The blond noticed immediately her decline in enthusiasm and spirit. Her usual chatty moments even if hindered by her battered visage began to decline and meld into inward looks that were longing yet regretful. He'd asked her about it a million times, bribing her with cooked feasts, that she could easily consume, sweet desserts, tender moments of ginger cuddling and precious kisses to her forehead, cheeks, or neck that left him deeply flustered and Elizabeth more than a little hot—though she hid it well and the reason she became so.

She refused to tell him how he'd sounded to her that night as he'd rubbed the full heated length of him against her thigh. She'd been so surprised when it'd began that she hadn't even realized what was happening. But then his breathy voice had skimmed across her chest in a strange tingly way, uttering her name similar to how she hungered for food. But this was different, rougher. He'd wanted something else and the bulge nudging against her told her a bit of what that was.

She hadn't moved for a while, simply feeling him slowly run the length of him against her bare thigh as he moaned lowly. He'd felt so incredibly hot next to her that her own breathing picked up without her notice and a dull ache surfaced between her thighs. She wanted to move, but couldn't do to her wounds, and grew frustrated as his dreams of pleasure surrounding herself continued.

But that's when she's felt his palm on her inner thigh. It must've slipped there in his insistent shifting. The weight of it and the dry heat of it left her mind whirling. She'd moaned softly herself, parting her thighs for some reason as she'd turned her nose into the straight locks of golden just under her chin. His scent was like a blow to her person, but not painfully. No, sparks warmed heavily across her flesh in a continuous thrum and the dull ache between her thighs morphed into a wet throb.

So when he suddenly palmed her through her panties her body jerked roughly as she gave both a pained and pleasured whimper. It had all been so new and sudden. She'd merely reacted wanting more from him.

But his hand didn't move from it's tempting place. She only felt his heavy thrusts to her side and his garbled but pleased grunts of her name. These were intoxicating to hear, wondering exactly what the usually skittish demon was doing to her in his dream. She'd huffed out a needy noise then. And nearly bit her lip, but recalled the pain this could bring her.

Her legs had been parted for a reason she knew. His hand being there had only made her embarrassingly wetter. She'd wanted the surge of feeling she'd gotten when he'd first placed it they're, but how...? A crazy sinful idea had sparked to life as she recalled her sole useful hand. It had only took a bit of maneuvering which sent Meliodas' mouth to the side of her neck in a blessed tease of hot breaths and grazing lips. But she found her hand over his in no time at all and only paused a moment before brazenly pushing it into her panties.

The utter feel of his skin against hers had pulled a choked whine from her throat as her eyes drifted closed.

She was extremely pleased when he'd reacted maybe to the feel of her heat and slick, but his finger slid up and down almost mimicking the motion of his hips and any thoughts of stopping him or it being wrong had flown out of her mind. Meliodas had seemed to almost know what he was doing as he touched and teased the most intimate part of her. He seemed to know how to get her heart straining in her chest. He'd known how to urge her body into a delicate arch—even if the act hurt as well. Meliodas knew how to make her scream. And she had to admit that he knew how to make her reach a blissful end embarrassingly fast. But the convulses that had overtaken her as her thighs trembled and her core became a sodden veil of heat were slow and intense and sprung tiny tears to the corner of her eyes. She'd tried to muffle her sounds, sorely wishing they'd been in the Avallo so she could moan and whimper all she'd like, and lessen her body's arch as the pain in her stomach was terrible, but it seemed almost impossible. Until finally the pleasure had began to wane.

She was left panting and chilled with sweat dusting her skin only having half a mind to pull Meliodas' hand from her soaked panties and up towards her mouth just as she felt his thrusts become deeper in a way albeit jerkier. She'd slid her tongue along his fingers, sucking in a few that were overly wet. Elizabeth was treated to the first taste of herself which had sent her skin into an even darker flush. She had never given thoughts to the things she'd just experienced nor even imagined she'd taste herself and not mind the peculiar flavor. However her mouth around his fingers must've been a sensitive feeling to Meliodas because almost pained moans had began to rasp from his throat and the progressively damper feel of his thrusts against her hip.

Her eyes had glazed over as she'd hummed in satisfaction with him setting his hand back on her thigh so he could grip and knead her flesh as needed. When he'd slowed to a stop, breath brushing heavily along the skin of her neck, she couldn't help but inhale their mixed scents finding them weighted with something instinctual and decided carnal. The princess was more than ready to go to sleep after such unexpected relief, still too numb and relaxed to think of her actions, until Meliodas had gone rigid beside her. Her own skin had paled, thinking he'd awoken. He'd even called her name. But he hadn't move until several moments later that she pretended to slumber through. A lump of disquiet built in her throat when he'd slipped from her side and left the room. That's when she'd realized what she'd done. She'd used him whilst he'd slept. Not only that, she'd taken away an experience she'd wanted to share with him, but definitely not in his sleep. Now when he does touch her, she'll know what to expect, and how amazing it will feel.

Sitting in the bar now as Meliodas prepares to head out to the Forest of White Dreams her head falls into her hand. "How could I do that?"

"Do what?" The soft inquiring tone appears right in front of her startling her into pulling her hand towards her chest.

Meliodas is leaning right towards her, blond locks sweeping against the side of his face, green and white attire perfectly in place and emphasizing every warm muscle she's been pressed against and fantasized guiltily over.

She gapes with reddened cheeks actively telling herself she will not blurt out her guilt, _she won't_. She's been doing so well. One look from those concerned green gems couldn't possibly make her—

"I took advantage of you in your sleep!"

Apparently she has a threshold for the amount of secrecy she can have with him, because Elizabeth swears she's kept secrets in for much longer.

He stares at her thoroughly confused and reasonably worried as one should be, until she notices the worry is for _her._ It just makes the gnawing inside her erupt into a vomit of words her mouth is thankfully healed enough to produce. "In Bernia you were having a dream and moaning and thrusting against my thigh with your excitement." She'd normally point out how adorable his reddened horrified face was if she didn't have so much on her shoulders... and chest... and body together. "But listening to you and feeling you and imagining what you were doing to me made me feel different and hot all over. I felt excited too," she admits lowering her head only for him to go to his knees so that their eyes refuse to break their lock no matter how flustered they both feel. She can see he wants so very much to apologize for something he couldn't control so she quickly talks over him. "Your hand ended up pressed between my legs and I should've just moved it, but," and she breathes haltingly here just remembering, "It felt so good. I... put your hand against my bare flesh and it felt amazing and you made me—" she can't say it while watching the realization come to his eyes. He must hate her. Elizabeth covers her face and blurts out the rest trying to fight off the choking tears of regret gathering in the back of her throat. "I'm _so_ sorry. I wanted to experience that with you awake, but I didn't even realize what I was doing until it was all over. Now it won't be... It w-won't be the—"

His hands pulls hers away and then there's a distinct feel of weightlessness and butterflies as his lips meld lightly over hers longingly. Then his lips dot kisses all over her cheeks and forehead until the urge to cry vanishes with only a sense of deep adoration taking its place. He gazes at her her with ruddy cheeks holding her one hand carefully. "I'm not angry or upset. Well, I'm upset with myself. Sharing a bed with you so soon wasn't the best idea. Don't blame yourself for what happened. You have wants that I'll take care of soon enough," he assures deeply and confidently despite the odd cease of his eyebrows and the drop of his eyes. But that all changes into something darker and indulgent like the wondrous taste of dark chocolate when he pierces her gaze with his and husks, "And trust me, I'm completely different awake than asleep. So knowing what to expect won't prepare you enough for what I can do for you."

And there it is. That haze that darkens his eyes when he's confronted with her in such a manner. A charge of racing bolts to her core makes her tighten her thighs together simply losing herself in this black pools imagining scenarios of skin and against skin, grunts in her ears, and her body shuddering almost violently from the pleasure he invokes within her.

His eyes flick down then slowly slide back up to her eyes noticing, which only makes her pang in want. "Show me... now... please." She implores overly breathless and pleading.

Meliodas' dark eyes hold hers for several tense moments. His hands fall away from hers, landing onto her thighs as a whoosh of air expels from her lungs. When he looks down, thumbs teasing her skin as she contemplates parting her legs for him, a soft chuckle from him surprises her. He lifts up to his feet, not before planting a kiss to her forehead. "I have to go find the next Sin, remember?"

The realization comes to her in a rush. ' _Oh, of course.'_ Cheeks flaming, she nods as he moves away from her. But this only brings up a disagreement they've been having for a few days now. "Take me with you." She puffs out her chest and lowers her eyebrows.

Meliodas slides a black coat across his shoulders and turns to give her a raised eyebrow. "Stand up." The order is lain out flatly.

She falters for an instant, but then does as he says. Or tries to. Her stomach doesn't hurt nearly as much but using the muscles there still smart as well as her broken wrist still mending. Eventually she finds her feet and looks to him expectantly only to discover him standing right in front of her again, arms crossed, with a stern expression. "That took quite a while. You're still healing, Elizabeth," he points to her chest causing a bubble of frustration to stir there. "This could be dangerous. I might not be able to keep you safe and handle the danger at the same time, so you're staying."

Her lower lip trembles. "But—"

"I'll be back with someone for you to meet soon," he cuts in eyes firm yet tender. His fingers glide like embers across her skin sweeping her bangs briefly. He picks up the short sword beside the for, then with a chilled curl of air, the door closes behind him and she's left on her own.

Arm crossing over her belly, Elizabeth can't shake a sudden sensation that something bad will soon come to pass.

~.~.~

Meliodas gazes up towards the overcast sky with slightly lowered brows and tension running through his jaw. A heavy breath fills his lungs then flutters out in wisps. He'd known Elizabeth's mind had been weighing heavily on something, he just hadn't known it would be _that_. Sharing a bed with her had been riskier than he'd imagined. Now there's a tension between them that's bound to draw tighter until one or the other, or both simply snap.

"There's no time to worry about it now. I've got a comrade to recruit." He glances down at the short sword held nimbly within his coarse grip then begins a steady trek into the forest. Though the moment he steps in the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and a tremor of unease works across his flesh. There's a dense fog all around which makes every brittle tree that springs into clarity more startling. He knows anyone can pop up in the same manner despite it being silent enough to hear them coming. His eyes swivel around trying to detect any oddities or signs of his old friends while his hand tightens reflexively upon the hilt of his sword.

Instead a buzz of something prickles at the back of his neck when he rounds the base of a small drop off. Before his eyes figures begin to emerge from the deep fog not too far ahead, the bodies creeping towards him with seemingly sinister intent a moment later. A breath hitches in his throat as his first thought screams _ghosts_. But the instant they become clear to him his body stiffens then falls into a defensive stance, sword pulled in front of him at the ready.

Five perfect images of himself do the same, appearing just as fierce and wary. "Leave here!" A copy of his voice echoes around the forest hissing threateningly.

A motion cuts through the air and he leaps to his right avoiding the sword that instead crushes the earth splattering bits of rock and snow in every direction. A calm settles over him from the ease of sword play as a fight ensues. Five against one turns out to be incredibly simple as his opponents seem to lack finesse and skill unlike the person they're attempting to mimic. Skidding across the snowy ground after flipping over a barrage of swipes and strikes, Meliodas' eyes swivel around noticing an easy way to defeat them all in a blink.

The frigid air is utterly crisp in filing his lungs, tugging a smirk across his lips as the tension in his muscles releases. Then—

A piercing whistle rings in his ears, halting all of them in place. He turns to see who it could be, thinking maybe the Sin he was looking for came to him. The enthusiastic wave of Elizabeth perched on the edge of the elevated stones seizes his lungs as his jaw goes slack.

"Hi boys! Wow there are so many of you now..." She brings a finger to her chin as she eyes them curiously.

He looks her over swiftly, eyeing the bare legs crossed over the ledge with a wince, but easing some at seeing her at least bundled in a coat. She must've dressed in haste to follow after him. His lips part, easily wanting to scold her for being so reckless, but his voice comes out from somewhere else.

"I'm trying to get rid of these mimics. Just give me a moment to finish them off."

"Don't listen to him! I've been dealing with these fakes!"

"No, I'm the real one! Don't you believe me?"

His voice in various protests and volumes escalates all around and somehow he finds himself thrown in the argument when insults start flying. He _does not_ resemble the likes of a toddler.

The whistle sounds again and they all go silent, looking to the maiden for judgment, though Meliodas inwardly scoffs at this reaction. He could easily defeat these imps and would have if Elizabeth hadn't followed him.

"All right, I guess I'll have to decide which one of you is the real Meliodas then..." Blue eyes travel from one person to the next contemplatively before they alight with an idea. "Okay, first put your fist on your hip."

They all comply as she eyes them eagerly.

"Next, say my name!" She smiles in anticipation.

A chorus of _Elizabeth_ floods the otherwise silent forest. Meliodas can't possibly see how this can help her tell the difference between them and nearly turns to take care of the creatures himself. But he sees Elizabeth shift a bit forward, her legs parting enough for her to brace a hand on the stone between. All at once her eyelids fall halfway, her focus directly on him which makes him swallow thickly. She then voices low and velvety, "Lastly... what I want is for you to come up here... and kiss me."

He stands stiff as his heart pounds, breath lost to him as he holds her heavy, demanding gaze. But when five bodies spring towards her, he reacts instinctively. Sailing towards her, he hits five bodies in a flourish dissolving their disguises in plumes of fading magic. Meliodas drops to his knees spread on either side of her waist peering down at her with a raised eyebrow.

Elizabeth merely giggles. "I knew it was you from the beginning. Your way of handling the sword was far more impressive than theirs." She confesses, bright eyes turned up towards his.

He sighs and shakes his head. "That doesn't explain why you followed me..." Shifting from over her he adjusts the sword in his hold then pulls her up into his arms. He leaps to the ground taking off at a brisk pace in the direction where he heard the imps disappear to easily keeping up in the eerie silence of the forest.

"I felt like something terrible was going to happen..." A hand tightens over the cloth on his chest and he feels her head press beneath his neck, her jasmine scent filling his nose wonderfully.

Well whatever feeling she has, he'll make sure it has nothing to do with her.

Up ahead he hears desperate cries of warning. "Lady Diane! Lady Diane!" That's when his speed slows and a surge of pleasant memories begin to arise. The thick fog steadily gives way to the giantess lying in upon the ground where the little blue imps relay their panicked story to her.

"Whoa..." Elizabeth whispers in reverence upon seeing her.

And he doesn't blame her. As Diane begins to rise to her full height with orange leather pants and halter neck that stops just below her burst, brunette locks high in her usual pony tail, she looks a mix of graceful and menacing with her amethyst glare. "What's this about Holy Knights sneaking into my forest?"

Meliodas sights the imps hoping away in dread of the anger they brought on in the giant while he simply stands with a delighted grin crinkling his features. "Hey, Diane! It's been about a decade hasn't it?"

Diane blinks at his voice, then leans over towards them to her a better look. Recognition shines within the depth of her eyes and a wide grin tucks into her cheeks. "Captain? Is that really you?"

He laughs with a deep merriment. "Who else could it be? It's good to see you!"

She looks about ready to sweep him up as she giggles, "Oh Captain!" In a flash faster than lightning she sobers focusing on the girl held carefully in his arms. Her eyes narrow and she gains a deep set line to her lips. "Who's that?"

Elizabeth shifts and he's not sure if it's from nerves or eagerness. From the look in Diane's eyes, he honestly forgot about how she might feel about Elizabeth... "I'm Elizabeth. It's really nice to meet you!" Her voice holds the same quality as chocolate melting across his tongue. He blushes and Diane notices as her eyes harden like stones.

"What's she doing here?"

"I'm going to need you and the other Sins' help Diane. The Holy Knights have gone rogue spreading despair across the lands. I know they have something more heinous planned and we need to stop them. I promised Elizabeth we'd help set Liones free of their rein." He adopts a serious voice unwavering in his stern gaze with Diane.

She seems to think this over, her eyes narrowing on Elizabeth for a moment before she stands tall. "All right. You'll have the Serpent's Sin of Envy's help!" Her purple gaze darkens on Elizabeth as she crosses her arms. "Just know I'm only doing it for the Captain, and not you."

The buzz of enthusiasm running through Elizabeth at Diane's agreement all but drains at those words. He can tell in that moment that she realizes the giantess' apparent dislike of her though she can't figure out why. When she wriggles in his arms it takes him a moment to sit her down at the silent request. She doesn't look at him, but when he circles around her he can see the protruding lower lip and disheartened blue eyes. His hand reaches for hers, but his fingers flinch away at the howl that inserts itself into the atmosphere.

He'd think nothing of it had it not been completely quiet up until then. He can see it in the suspicious way Diane gazes around that she knows this as well. "I didn't think any animals lived in this forest..."

The hairs along his skin begin to stand as he looks around with gritted teeth. Something's coming. He can feel it like crackles in the air. A rumble stirs the air and he looks up to see a gathering of the clouds overhead. _'There_.' His muscles bunch in readiness until he spies Elizabeth having not sensed a thing like he and Diane, her mood having carried her a short distance away from the two.

He hisses a curse and begins to run towards her, but blinding electric blue light strikes from the sky and a moment later he and Diane feel continuous charges of power cycle through them in the form of electric bounds. And a figure appears from the fog with slow and calculating steps. Meliodas doesn't have to think twice to know this man with bright pink hair and cruel blue eyes is a Holy Knight.

~.~.~

The whir of energy through the air causes her to spin around. Her heart nearly escapes her ribs at the electricity encircling both Meliodas and Diane. And her breathing utterly ceases when she sees the cause of it. _'G-Gilthunder_!' Her heart drowns out her hearing for several moments as she watching him draw closer. _'Is he here for me? Did he come to kill me_?' Blue eyes shivering in fear, she blinks away the grating feel of terror and takes a step forward. Only she notes his eyes having never left Meliodas once. The terrible feeling from early returns with a vengeance, forcing her to tighten her good fist. "Gilthunder! What are you—"

His blue eyes slide to her and she goes pale beneath the malevolence that lies there. She sees brief flashes of electric blue as the Holy Knight stormed the throne room and seized her father without an ounce of remorse. The memory fades and she sights Meliodas' desperate gaze, urging her to stay silent and _run_.

She ignores him.

"Princess Elizabeth... Your head is wanted by the kingdom."

She can almost feel Meliodas vibrate with rage at the coolly stated fact.

"But I have no desire to take part in that. My business is with the Sins." Again little emotion drips into his tone except for twisted loathing. "So run along now."

He turns away from her to face off with Meliodas and Diane which greatly eases Meliodas. Elizabeth shakes her head hating to anger him, but she can't let Gilthunder do this. Charging to plant herself in front of the two she outstretches an arm and stares into the venomous gaze of a man who was once her friend. "I won't let you hurt them!"

"Elizabeth, don't!" Meliodas yells behind her and that's when things whirl almost too fast for her to follow.

Gilthunder takes her words as challenge and the twisted sword he wields erupts with volatile electricity that lights up the vicinity in blue-white. He appears in front of her hardly a breath away and she can smell the singe in the air, feel the chilly air being stirred up throwing her hair around her face. His eyes grip hers speaking of her impending demise. A heartbeat later her body is thrust behind another as two swords clash with such ferocity thunder resonates to her bones.

Meliodas roars out a clipped order, "Diane, take her out of the forest to my bar then get back here!"

A large hand sweeps her up before she can even spit out her protest. When Diane begins sprinting away from the booming clashes Elizabeth feels a frost twist her stomach in a way she hasn't before. A desperate shout tears past her lips as she tries to scramble to the edge of the warm palm. "Take me back! I can't leave him!" Her breathing is panicked as the forest becomes less dense giving way to entrance where the Avallo sits neatly an easy thing to spot for the giantess.

At Elizabeth's worried noises, Diane brings her up to her eye line where the brunette attempts to be calming. "Look, the Captain needs to keep focus. He wants you safe, so try to stay put and don't make him worry."

Elizabeth is lowered in front of the bar left to watch Diane turn and disappear back into the forest where flash after flash continues to light up the murky sky. A single tear chills her cheek which she wipes quickly away. This had to be what she feared. Gilthunder's arrival. Standing resolutely in front of what's become her home in the past few weeks, she has to believe in her heart of hearts that he'd come back to her fine.

The wind picks up burning against her exposed flesh in its frigidness. The clouds grow darker making their battle all the more brilliant and impossible to ignore. Seconds turn to grueling minutes that shred brutally away at her nerves. Things go quiet. Finally she sees something go soaring through the sky at dangerous speeds away from the forest much bigger than Meliodas. Her body sags with relief overcome by the fact that he won. He's coming back to her.

She stands now with a anticipation bouncing her on her toes searching with her eyes for the tell-tell signs of the two arrivals. It only takes so long before she sees Diane with Meliodas perched on her shoulder. When he takes the insanely high jump from her shoulder to the ground effortlessly, Elizabeth only blinks in amazement.

A beat later, she's running towards him as if time itself is slipping away. She'd thought she'd known this feeling before gripping at her heart and squeezing until it bursts. The feeling like no matter how much you breathe it'll always seem as if you're suffocating. In a way she pushes herself faster as if she can out run it by getting there quicker. But there's no escaping the horror of seeing Meliodas fall into a heap as a deep bloody gash across his back strains the pretty white snow. She can't run away from the river of tears that threaten to drown her when she falls to her knees and lifts his torso as best as she can into her lap under the frightened watch of Diane.

It's happening all over again. She's starting to lose the people she cares for.


	6. Chapter 6

**~5~**

Her tears pelt his pale face relentlessly unbidden by the amount of times she tries to blink them away. Blood soaks her, warm, sticky, and unrelenting as a sharp twinge goes through her chest forcing a rasped plea from her throat. "Meliodas? Please, wake up. _Please."_ But it's useless, she knows. The moment he landed on the ground and their eyes met there was a split second where she saw _everything._ Any amount of bravado he wanted to put up to keep her worries at bay went to the wayside as the fire in his eyes blink out of existence and there was nothing left to keep him up let alone going.

"If you can't do it by yourself, then I'll help you," She declares fiercely reaching out to grasp him only for a strained yell to spring forth as she forgets her still mending wrist.

"Let me help you!" Diane's voice insists and Elizabeth can feel the giant shifting towards them.

All at once her head snaps up and a wild, bitter ferocity overtakes her eyes obscured slightly by silver strands. "Like you helped Meliodas in battle?" Her voice is hard and brutal cutting into Diane like jagged ice.

The pained waver in Diane's amethyst gaze is what makes Elizabeth's gut twist. She'd never snap at someone like that. Her eyes turn down in regret as Diane responds despondent. "He told me not to interfere. Captain's orders."

Elizabeth thinks to hook her elbows under Meliodas' arms and drag him towards the entrance of the Avallo. He's incredibly heavy for someone smidgen shorter than she. "I was ordered to stay here. See where that landed us," She answers lungs burning, eyes stinging, tugging and pulling, desperate to get him to someone who can help.

Diane's hand appears beside them and Elizabeth stops for a moment, resting Meliodas' torso against her chest. Her eyes turn up with reluctance to meet Diane's gaze. "Let me help you. I'm sure he's a lot denser than you are and I can get you to the nearest town faster than whatever you have in mind."

Elizabeth bites her lip and gazes down at the no doubt freezing figure of Meliodas. The Avallo is fast, but she only has one had to work with and she really doesn't know what she's doing to begin with in controlling it. Her heart gives a painful set of bumps and she has to choke back a sob as a trembling hand cards through his hair. Diane takes her silence as approval and the two are scooped up carefully. Elizabeth swallows thickly then croaks, "Thank you. I'm sorry for what I said before."

The rumbles of Diane's rapid progression and the whistling of wind hardly drown out the sincerity that makes up her words. "I get it. You care about him. I do to."

Elizabeth curls more tightly around Meliodas and lets herself go, if only for a moment. Her body quakes and it becomes impossible for words to come past the garble of emotions that stick in her throat so she silently prays, _'_ _Please be okay, my knight.'_

~.~.~

 _"_ _Isn't this lovely?" He's asked brightly and the hand within his own curls a bit more._

 _She's referring to the waves of water below them sprawling for as far as they can see. The water is the darkest blue he's ever seen, glimmering silver beneath the moonlight. It's peaceful, quiet, except for the crashing water against the cliff face they sit atop of. It's something different and rare for him, the calm and tranquility. Even the beauty he's gradually noticed on this journey of theirs._

 _Still though as he glances over seeing the little crinkle that forms by her lips every time she so much as thinks of smiling, spotting the freckles on her shoulders from being out in the sun from hours at a time, how she's winding her hair around her fingers only to undo it then do it again because she's pondering something deeply, and the way her eyes gain this soft, gooey warmth in their center as she turns to him now, a bit of the ice barbed in his chest melts away and he squeezes her hand back. Meliodas knows nothing could really be more beautiful than the little things that make up the woman beside him._

 _Eyes focused on the pale hand twined with his slightly darker one he gives a quiet answer, "Yes, it's very lovely."_

 _It's very peculiar. He's starting to wish that these occurrences won't be lost. Or maybe it's just her. Maybe there's a traitorous part of him that doesn't want to lose her._

His eyes flash open and the first thing discerned to him is a three pronged sword descending towards his chest. The next he notices is a Holy Knight's hand being pressed tightly over Elizabeth's mouth muffling her screams as she's held roughly against the metal encasing their body. The gut wrenching horror wringing tears from her cerulean gaze snaps something brutally inside his chest and it's simply reacting from there. The speed in which he moves can't be detected by the Holy Knight, but the power behind his strike to his armored chest is felt by the tortured wails that fill the room until he crashes through the wall behind him.

Meliodas' arm goes around Elizabeth's waist, pulling her curves flush against his side so that every ragged breath she gives from trying to control her breathing is felt clearly. He wants dearly to check her over, knowing she must've been close to hysterics at being forced to watch him nearly be run through and was mere seconds away from being in the grasp of the Holy Knights, but their enemy approaches. He still has a job to do.

The hand appears first through the hole, gleaming faintly in the light streaming through the window. A gruff chortle precedes the rest of his figure filling the room with the Holy Knight's misplaced mirth. "You refuse to die, Meliodas, Dragon's Sin." He lifts himself to his imposing height displaying the inwards buckle in the chest of his armor where Meliodas' fist impacted. "No matter. As Golgius, member of the Weird Fangs, I'll be sure to finish the job myself." the menacing grin of his helmet seems to leave a lasting impression as Golgius' form fades from view.

Only a ripple of shock goes through Meliodas before his body tenses, sensing around for where the Holy Knight might appear next. Elizabeth's arms come around his shoulders and she whispers anxious almost to herself, "He disappeared again."

Tense seconds go by. His sweep carefully over inch of room in front of him. His hearing listens for any disturbances behind. There's a shimmer through the air. Meliodas moves. Elizabeth gives a surprised shout as she's thrown to the bed behind him only to have to shield her head as waves upon turbulent waves of power begins to oscillate around the room.

Meliodas practically petrifies Golgius with the savage twist to his glare the sword intended for Elizabeth mere inches from his face. His blond locks sway as his power swells and his darkened features sharpen viciously as he smiles harsh and cruel. "You sure you want to do that? Harming her will only serve to piss me off further."

Golgius' hand wavers though he has the perfect opportunity to drive his sword forward. Meliodas watches the moment unfold when Golgius truly takes the sadistic grate to Meliodas' words to heart. Not a second later does the Holy Knight turn tail with alarmed sounds jumping through the window to complete his escape. _'_ _So what do you know? He's not a pathetic statue after all…'_

"Are you… okay?" The curious voice tinged with a hint of caution causes him to draw in a quick intake of crisp air pooling in from the opening where the window once stood.

The dark shadows sink back beneath his skin leaving him a tad disoriented when he turns around. "Am I okay? Shouldn't I be asking you?" Getting a full look at her his stomach rolls with nauseous worry and he finds his hands reaching out to grasp her gingerly only for her throw herself around him, squeezing the breath out of him as best as she can. "The blood…?" he inquires shakily into her shoulder.

"It's yours… I haven't had time to wash up since we arrived here in Dalmary." Her fingers skim up the back of his neck and he twitches tilting his head up enough to bear the weight of her relieved scrutiny. The burn that begins to bridge across his nose easily spreads to the tops of his ears. "I was so worried you wouldn't wake up. There was so much blood from your wound from Gilthunder," Her fingers trail down his back and it occurs to him as he shivers that he's without a shirt only wrapped in bandages around his torso. "And then Dr. Dana poisoned you and Golgius was going to—" She bites her words off with a sharp shake to her head. "I tried to fight him off, but a vase to the head can only do so much," She laughs but it comes out hallow and sour as she turns her head away.

He pulls away with a frown moving his hand to brush the bruising skin around her cheeks softly with his thumb. "You did what you could. Holy Knights are no laughing matter." Meliodas lets his palms rest on her shoulders absorbing the lines beneath her eyes, the frazzle to her hair, and the melancholy that dims her eyes. His fingers curl deeply into his palms though he plasters on a smile disguising his darkening thoughts. "I'm going to get dressed now and then I'll g—"

"You think I don't know what you're thinking right now?" Her hand shapes around his shoulder as he keeps his back to her. "You're eyes are darker. You're angry. You're going to go after Golgius aren't you?" She tentatively phrases her questions with a knowing cadence.

His head falls forward and his jaw tenses. " _And why shouldn't I_?"

"You're hurt for one," she whirls him to face her only to poke him in the chest before crossing her arms allowing him to see the firm set of her lips and the narrow of her eyes.

His eyes thin a bit. He reaches to retract her bandaged hand from the cross she has them set in. "Are you as well? Both inside and out?" he hints to the way she'd looked just moments before. When his hands encircle the exposed skin of her own however he feels something that makes his eyes widen drastically roaming her face before looking behind her as if expecting to see something there. There's a hot spark crackling just out of his reach matching the cool flames that appear to twist in her eyes.

She draws her hand away and he inhales shakily. "I've felt fine for a while now. You however need rest after everything. Lady Diane is on her way to Baste Prison to free Sir Ban."

Meliodas eyes her for a moment to be sure that she's absolutely certain of her health status. When she moves the hand without a wince a tension unwinds in his shoulders though he still feels uncertain about the power he felt coming from her. And what had he expected to see when glancing over her shoulders? He turns the thoughts away, giving Elizabeth a pointed grin as he walks towards his bloodied shirt and vest—he makes a mental note to get another set soon. "We should head there too seeing as I'm feeling just fine."

She steps in his path and he can't help but notice how the chill filling the room has pinkened her flesh beautifully. She tilts her head just as a draft sweeps through billowing her hair briefly towards him and hints of her jasmine sweet scent. "Really? Show me then." It's an order from innocent features he can't refuse.

His fingers begin an unsteady unravel of the stained bandages covering his torso until they're at his feet and he can really feel the muscles in his back tense and relax with his movements. Elizabeth rushes to him putting her hands around his back so that every finger is felt with perfect detail carefully gliding along his skin. His heart beats rapidly against hers as he watches the influx of emotions, disbelief, joy, and adoration—the last of which makes his insides tremble more than only wearing a sole pear of pants in winter ever could—flow across her eyes. "How is this possible? The wound was so deep."

He tries to laugh the nerves tingling beneath his skin away, but it sounds to halting and he ends up swallowing thickly. He can feel his face streaming with warmth, can practically taste her in the breath she fans across his face. She's way too close with fingers on his skin and emotions bleeding into her gaze that reaches right inside of him and caresses the right way. Is he always going to melt around her this way? "I told you I'd always be by your side, Elizabeth. And with you watching over me… getting better was no big deal."

When her hand sweeps up to curl in the back of his hair his stomach flips. Her lips fall over his gingerly and incredibly sweet reminding him heavily of their first kiss. His hands cradle her waist as he struggles not to dissolve into putty in her hands. She's kissing him as if he'll break which is ridiculous but at the same time a warmth floods his bones pulling a soft moan to the seam of his lips sealed to hers. She lets go after several moments to press another kiss to his forehead as he catches his breath slowly. "Don't scare me like that again, okay?" Her voice is tiny, fragile.

His lips go to her cheek that heats swiftly under his touch. "The same goes to you." _'_ _I don't think I could take losing you.'_

~.~.~

A delicate tinkle fills the air once more bright in Elizabeth's awareness clearer than ever.

Diane had been put under some kind of trance and it was clear whoever did it wanted her to destroy her own Captain. Watching him defend himself while fruitlessly attempting to snap her out of it coiled her chest so tight breathing became wrought with agony. But as the ringing persisted and Meliodas too was brought under the trance, the child she and Meliodas saved from Diane's rampage gained Elizabeth's scrutiny. And all at once she had at least an inkling of what might be happening.

"Come now! Weren't you just saying before how if you had to, you'd put your life on the line to protect that young boy? Now that the time has come you're not willing to go through with it, are you?" Freesia of the Weird Fangs coos derisively as her swarm of bugs storm around the small screaming frame of the boy in question.

Elizabeth hears the battle of two comrades in the distance and her eyes lock on the boy being viciously attacked. She did make a promise, to her father, to Meliodas, to _herself_ , that she intends to keep. Marching forward without giving the giggling Holy Knight another look, she drifts closer to the roar of furious buzzing and shrill pleas. Then she breaches the black shroud of insects and an involuntary gasp of pain is tugged from her. The bugs shred through her clothes easily leaving thin rips that expose the tears that begin to emerge in her flesh. Each slash is keen across her face, her legs, arms, every place that can reach. But she pushes forward even as blood drips into her eyes or over her lips, down the tips of her fingers where it's swept up by the choking wind. By the time Elizabeth reaches the eye of the storm she finds the boy standing perfectly fine which merely solidifies her suspicions.

Still she collapses to her knees before him with shuddering breaths and pain arcing along her flesh. She pulls him into a hug murmuring words of calm as her promise surfaces. She vowed that she'd free and protect her people from the Holy Knights she hated.

The storm disperses and Elizabeth takes her chance. Her hand grips the staff and yanks it from the boy's unsuspecting hold. She knows she only has seconds for the Holy Knights to react and attack her with no regard. So she fills her shaking palm with the cold metal of the gleaming bell and snaps it from the staff just as a fist larger than her frame slams into her side.

" _You wench_!" A hideous roar vibrates her bones from the boy turned Holy Knight infuriated at her deception.

The agony is like nothing she's ever experienced making the pain she'd felt before from the knights in Bernia almost laughable in comparison. This is a _Holy Knight._ She can't even find it in herself to scream as she lands in the snow rolling like a ragdoll to an ungraceful position. Her vision tunnels and she's sure something warm trickles out of the side of her mouth as a dangerous sign of her injuries. She wants to move away as she hears the snow crunch under heavy footfalls from the monster promising to service her a Baptism to cleanse her of her sins, but everything aches far too much. Her hearing becomes garbled then and her head lolls as her vision turns grey then darkens with a speed that frankly testifies her.

It could be seconds or even minutes later, from the spinning in her mind, when a warm palm cups her cheek tenderly. She's afraid, so afraid of not waking up again, but just feeling that hand and hearing the hum of _his_ voice puts her at ease. The darkness doesn't seem as frightening anymore.

~.~.~

The man emerging from the gaping wall of Baste Prison is anything but. He's a wolf in sheepskin. Ready for Meliodas to dole out the cleansing of sins Ruin was so eager to promise his princess. Knights on guard shake at the sight of Meliodas approaching Holy Knight Ruin's hunched figure like a dragon on the hunt.

"I-It would be boring if it weren't like this, right, Dragon's Sin Meliodas!" Ruin challenges as he struggles to pull himself from the wreckage.

That does it. Every knight around voice swells with alarm about the Captain of The Seven Deadly Sins. A frigid smile cuts across his face making the wrathful gleam in his eyes prevalent. If they're so freaked now they're better off running.

Ruin climbs to his full height and Meliodas can feel the pathetic taunt about to emit from that blank faced helmet of his. Meliodas flits through the air twisting gracefully so his elbow connects acutely to the back skull of the Holy Knight. He takes a mighty fall with a hoarse scream kicking up sheets of snow that do nothing to cool the sear of Meliodas' rage. The craters that spread outwards beneath the Holy Knight are deep and wide and any of the guards watching in their right mind desert the area as if an explosion just went off.

Ruin's not one to go down easy which is what Meliodas hoped. He can still see the many abrasions to her flesh, the crimson oozing from her wounds, the broken twist of her body, and the helpless tears on her cheeks. Her cheek had been swollen and bloody to the touch, her scent saturated with copper. She'd already shown him her resolve. This was a cruel sacrifice. Her life very well could've been beating right out of her, before his eyes and _he could do nothing to stop it_. While making Ruin pay for his own sins won't ease the pain battering his ribs, it'll still feel exquisite to relish in the man's suffering.

"Impressive... Your speed and strength are something to contend with indeed..." Ruin unsteadily forces his hands under him to push himself up only to begin a deranged laugh that merely winds Meliodas up further. "Is that what you expected me to say!? You haven't experienced the true power of a Holy Knight!" Ruin's fist rears back.

Meliodas springs forth.

The armor practically disintegrates beneath the force of his fist. He doesn't let up. Meliodas picks up a dropped sword and begins a delicate balance of life and death, slicing Ruin's hardened flesh open ruthlessly as the man writhes excruciatingly. Meliodas doesn't expect the man to beg as he hollers to the heavens under a particular cut down his back that's jagged. The venomous promises that are weakly coughed up as Meliodas begins to dig the sword deeper and harsher, he does.

"W-We won't... stop u-until you're precious p-princess is... is in our c-captive and you're d-dead...!"

Meliodas, stained in splatters of blood from particular arteries that felt the need to gush, gives Ruin a black stare. "You'll never get your hands on her. No matter what, definitely, even if I die... I'll never let her go."

Ruin's body begins to convulse in a sort of rasping laughter. "You fool! Y-you have no i-idea—"

The final slit is swift.

Meliodas watches blankly as Ruin's body sputters spouting out the last of its life through his neck. After a moment where the wind deposits a bit of snow over his lifeless form Meliodas drops the now useless sword and turns away. It had to be done he tells himself. "You hurt someone that means _everything_ to me. And that... well, that sin is yours."

~.~.~

Meliodas hadn't been to his own room since their return to the Avallo.

It's not that he hasn't _wanted_ to go there... It's just... There were simply other things to do! He mentally sighs as his shoulders refuse to relieve themselves of tension, his eyes hardly staying from their bleak stare ahead. That's a terrible excuse of he's ever come up with one. Still he needs to guide the Avallo towards the Necropolis where King is said to be located. Ban can't do it and neither can Diane who walks outside on their trip. His fingers curl subtly around the controls as he refuses to think of Elizabeth.

Leagues of land disappear in mere hours beneath the moving legs of his creation. Night wears on and without fail he stands poised at the control never letting his mind waver, until—

"Captain?" Diane calls from outside and he turns enough to see her purple eyes gleam bright with the moon in his direction. "I think I can see the place from here. You can stop now and finish up the rest of the way in the morning." She prods gently.

He shakes his head feeling his shoulders tighten significantly and ice wedge its way between his ribs. "No, I'm fine. I can keep going."

He doesn't see it, but Diane's lips curl just slightly over her teeth as frustrating pulls her brows in. "And what then? You'll stay up and clean every mug in the place!?" Her yell is controlled so it doesn't rouse Ban sleeping on the top floor but most importantly doesn't disturb—

"Yeah, sure. I'm certain dust has collected by now." He flatly agrees ignoring the twinges squeezing his heart.

The sound of steady thuds and muffled snoring fills the space for a while. Then, "You're going to have to see her eventually. She's in your bed, Captain. Elizabeth's going to wake up and wonder where you are. Do you really want that?" He turns now to see her, watching the pained furrow of her brows as the strained whisper of her words trail of the wind. At this rate his stomach will never free itself of its twists. "All right." He concedes with a heavy breath. Moving his fingers nimbly around the panel before him, the Avallo pulls to an easy stop then begins a careful descent towards the ground where the legs bury themselves beneath and the base meshes under the snow. Before he hides the window behind the shelves of ale, Meliodas give Diane a kind but limp smile, "We'll find King tomorrow."

Her lips return the gesture only her eyes glimmer with a subtle tenderness. "Right. Goodnight Captain."

"Goodnight Diane. And... thanks." Restoring the bar to its unassuming appearance, Meliodas turns towards the stairs pausing with a foot on the first. He can't help but remember how Dr. Dana, who had died in Elizabeth's arms earlier that day from Golgius' attack, had miraculously revived sporting a similar scar that Meliodas bores upon his back. The Doctor had been swift in attending to Elizabeth's wounds after the return of his imprisoned daughter and wanting to repay for all the trouble he'd caused. Elizabeth could easily have died from such a blow, but her strength is boundless and she lies in his bed now after Ban carried her there then laid claim to Elizabeth's former room.

Meliodas knows why he's been avoiding her and doing everything he could do so as not to see her again—pulling her things from Ban's room while the undead man lies asleep in a drunken stupor, moving the Avallo closer to their next destination, even contemplating cleaning all of the bar's mugs. It's a simple thing called guilt. Finally forcing himself to make the journey to his room he stands outside of the door for several pained heartbeats. Gripping the cold handle he pushes into the room silently. His eyes glue to the green hue of his shoes until he closes the door behind him. He can hear her breathing, soft, and ginger unlike the snores he's used to her giving. The room smells of her already. He swallows shakily thankful for not scenting any hints of blood. His fingers twitch at his palms as he grows restless wanting to look up.

So he does.

And...

Oh.

Okay.

So that's what it feels like to have his chest fracture, his lungs give out, and his heart wither away all at once. He doesn't acknowledge the tears that wet his face and drip to the ground with subtle pitters. He hardly even notices the burn in his throat as he struggles not to make choked cries. It's silly breaking so easily at the sight of the damage he's caused her not once but _twice_ — _how many more in the future?_

Coming to sit beside her upon the bed he stares at the numerous bandages covering her flesh before carefully grasping her small hand. The only high point is that she'll get better, he knows this. Running his lips across her knuckles, he tries to will away his tears as he hoarsely whispers. "You'll get better, but how long after that before you're hurt again? I said I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, but I'm not doing a good job am I?" He knows why seeing her this way hurts worse than any physical pain could. The tips of his fingers brush through her bangs then flutter over a bandaged cheek where purple just peeks from under the white material. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I don't know what you see in me."

He gazes at her sleeping features even paler in the silvery light and feels a shaky, fluttery, warmth emerge from the wreckage within. "You probably expected the Captain to be this fierce wall of devastation. And here I am unable to even kiss you without flushing ten shades of red... unable to keep you from harm's way. I must be a complete disappointment, huh, Elizabeth?" He asks gently while slowly running his fingers through the length of silken stands. Her chest rises and falls. She has no answers he hasn't already given himself. "And yet I want to be the one who can protect you. I want to be driven insane from all of your wonderful quirks. I want to be the one you need, b-because you've become so important to me." His head falls down and he realizes he'd twined his fingers with hers and is pressing the back of her hand to his chest where his heart no doubt skips erratically.

"But... I'm not what's best for you. No matter how much I grow to love you everyday." He blinks away the fresh tears that arise at the confession uttered so softly only his ears could possibly pick it up. "I resolved to find the Sins and save the kingdom with you, and I will. And I even promised to always be by your side... But I don't necessarily have to be your consort to be by your side. I'll watch over you as a knight _should_."

Meliodas squeezes her hand gently, inwardly beginning an agonizing but needed shutting away of his wants and desires. Her hand is sat down and he leans his head towards hers a final time, then halts not even allowing himself this. Instead he whispers a quiet, "Goodnight, Elizabeth," then turns away from her as pushes off his shoes and settles under the blankets for a hopefully dreamless rest.


	7. Chapter 7

**~6~**

 _A faint, reluctant moan fills the otherwise natural ambiance one would find in a forest at night._

 _"Are you sure this is... what you want?"_

 _Her question is ridiculous and interrupted by a low groan as his fingers work languidly along the slick heat between her legs. He holds her wrists together a bit tighter above her head hoping to bruise them if only a little. Those shapely legs of hers are held apart with his as he works her steadily higher. Having her in this position splayed out before him is in a single word, exquisite. How often does one get to have their way with their greatest enemy after all?_

 _He meets the flames of hatred glowing coolly within her eyes and it only makes his length stiffen further in clear view for her as his arousal becomes nearly painful. "This is hate-sex, the best kind in my opinion," he informs her with a crooked grin as the moonlight reflects off the hunger within his inky gaze. When her hips roll needily against his stroking fingers, he adds huskily, "Don't deny it. You want this too."_

 _The goddess gives a bitten off whimper as her back threatens to arch from the feel of his fingers slipping inside of her and he growls ready for the rough part. "You're making a mistake. There's more than just—"_

 _He draws his hand back and slides between her legs fully, done with her protests. There's no easing into such tightness, just a sharp plunge that bows her back and rips a long groan deep from within him. He hasn't even began fucking her and already he can feel sweat gathering on his skin. Noticing the furrow to her brow and her frequent stained noises, he chuckles a bit merciless and shifts within her. "First time, hmm? You're hate just goes on and on for me, huh? Well don't worry. You'll get used to me pounding your tight slit eventually."_

 _Taunting and toying with her is the greatest experiences he's come across thus far, only second now to driving his arousal into her wet heat. The anger coming from her is nearly palpable like delicious stream on her supple flesh. He keeps his word, taking her long and hard in the open clearing of the woods where her drawn out cries and breathy sounds can be relished without worry. Though somewhere along the way the hate between them and his drive to humiliate her melts away into a pure want for gratification which she finds multiple times under him._

 _When he finally finishes with her, he sags against her for a bit savoring his place between her legs before climbing off of her to straighten out his pants casually. Looking down at her he finds her eyes meeting his almost imploring of him. "Are you sure this is all you want, Meliodas? There could be more."_

 _Looking down at her now, pale skin flushed, sweaty, bruised from his hands and lips, and his seed gradually seeping from her wondrous core, he smirks cruelly as strands of blond sway in front of his eyes briefly. "No, I'm definitely satisfied for now." He leaves her there naked upon the forest ground without a backwards glance._

Green eyes fly open with a frantic quality to them as they search for images—images he just witnessed of himself and... a-and _who_ damn it? His chest heaves as he brings his hands up to run unsteadily through his locks gripping tightly as if to hold on to the dream. She had wings, four of them... She was a goddess... But her face, her eyes, her voice, her hair all begin to blur and fade as he groans in deep dismay.

"Meliodas?"

His heart lurches and he pulls his hands away swiftly. He turns to Elizabeth so swiftly the jitteriness of his frame becomes apparent in the way he clutches the sheets as if to keep himself tethered. She's turned to him as much as she can be, silver hair framing her face delicately reminding him of her state of health. "Are you all right? You were... moaning a lot and you're pants are bulging again." She laughs faintly at the last part but he can see in her blue gaze that she's completely serious and concerned.

His eyes look down his body to see that the covers must've slid down with his shifting and that she's right about his arousal. Quickly his hands grasp for the covers and pull them up enough to hide his state, but his mind feels almost too full to allow for proper responses still caught up with his latest dream. He knows of his past and just how cold and vile he'd been. Back then he'd loved it, but now he dreads ever becoming that again. His latest kills were definitely something his former self would be proud of though not the reasoning behind them. A warmth hovers over his clenched fist, brushing tempting trails along the back that entice him to grasp it as he thinks of what he can of the dream. He'd bedded a goddess out of hate? The war was long and vicious, but he doesn't remember...

Absently he begins running his thumb along smooth knuckles and that's what pulls him into the present fully. He jerks away from Elizabeth nearly falling from the bed as his breathing turns panicked. He made his decision last night. He's no good for her. Waking up with her immediately there after one of those dreams just confused him. He can't lead her on to something she doesn't deserve. Still the look of confusion and the flash of hurt within her eyes at his sharp recoil draws pained twinges throughout his chest. "I-I'm fine. I was just having a... strange dream." He tells her quietly while pulling from the bed.

Her eyes go down as she considers this then they rest on him with a hint of knowing. "Was it like the one in Bernia?"

He flushes down to his chest and this seems to please her as she smiles a bit more relaxed. His eyes fall to his toes that rest on the cool wood finding himself smelling jasmine heavily on his clothing from sharing a bed with Elizabeth as he remembers that particular dream. "N-no, this was different," he chokes out.

"Really?" There's deep confusion there, "Because you kept moaning—"

"Say Captain! Are you and the Princess gonna smooch all morning or is all this breakfast going to go to waste?" Ban calls impatiently from the floor below halting conversation effectively.

Meliodas purses his lips unable to stop his skin from prickling in embarrassment. Had he really been that worked up about Elizabeth yesterday? He turns to her now meeting her wide affectionate gaze for only a moment as his heart squeezes. Of course. And he doesn't think that'll ever change, no matter how much he wishes to hide it now.

He goes over to her side and carefully begins to shift her minding her every injury until she's propped up slightly against pillows. "Are you feeling all right?" His voice is hushed as he's careful not to let his hands linger on her too much.

"You worry too much. For you I'll be fine in no time!" Her voice seems melded with sunlight leaving a deep warmth inside him as he glimpses into wells of optimism. His breath catches as two of her fingers hook around his a subtle touch and wordless command of what she wants.

He pulls away with a nervous smile that goes flat when he turns his back to her opting to leave before he has to see what appears in her eyes this time.

"What's wrong Meliodas?"

Even bedridden she still manages to corner him with the sternness in her voice.

He pauses on the creaking floorboards for a second thinking. "You need your breakfast. I'm sure you must be hungry by now." He exits the room without waiting for her response.

~.~.~

He reaches the bottom floor long after the smell of breakfast hits him. His eyes find Ban at one of the white clothed tables eating away at the hearty meal the man whipped up with ease. Meliodas is about to breeze by him towards the kitchen with a casual greeting, but the Sin of Greed is way past such things that day.

"So how are things going with you and the princess?"

The waggle of Ban's eyebrows cause Meliodas pause. Then a wave of irritation stings under his flesh as a slight twitch goes to a blond brow. "She's covered in a majority of bandages that's how things are going." He grinds his words out carefully so as his ire isn't noticed. He needs to make it very clear to both Sins that he and Elizabeth aren't a couple.

Ban leans over the table elbow perched upon as his crimson eyes leer in Meliodas' direction. The smirk that overtakes his face edges Meliodas towards a certain bottle behind his made "There's always other ways~ Besides you were groaning like you were having a good- _aaahhh_!"

With a flick of his wrist the trap door in the center of the bar opens dropping the bandit out of his presence, for now. A brief blast of cold from the opening clears Meliodas' mind enough so that he doesn't do anything worse. _'The walls are too thin in this place.._.' With a slow breath that does nothing to reduce the tension wired throughout his body, Meliodas grabs a wooden mug and a towel thinking that perhaps cleaning the dust from them should clear his head.

He reaches mug number 43 by the time the front door is slammed own revealing a sharp bearing of teeth and a thoroughly snow drenched bandit. He sits the mug down reluctantly as the repetitive motions only allowed him to think of Elizabeth and a few of the antics she's gotten into in that very bar.

"What the hell was that for!? That would've killed a normal human!" Ban storms to his seat only to growl as the rest of his meal took the dive with him. He slouches in a seat in front of Meliodas seeking ale next.

"You're not a normal human are you?" Meliodas cuts his eyes for a moment at the undead man before resting his towel under the bar.

Ban scoffs then raises a hand towards the wall of ale flicking two fingers so that the one of his choosing comes flying into his awaiting palm. Meliodas twitches irritably at this. "Diane told me to send you out if you were cleaning mugs so she could kick your ass for stalling. So go on. I'd love to see the show." Ban grins before tipping the bottle back dripping the water from his hair onto the floor in the process.

Meliodas' hands flatten on the bar as a rush of something builds within him like a geyser ready to blow. His green eyes harden and his voice lowers perceptively, "Elizabeth and I aren't together. You both need to stop pressing the issue and focus on the damn mission."

Ban gazes at him for a long while before folding a hand over the bar and leaning against it with a casual air about him as of Meliodas' attitude rolled right over his head. "Do those lies taste as bad as they sound, Captain?"

Meliodas flinches before his eyebrows sink over his eyes. "What?"

"I get it. You got cold feet over seeing her hurt so you want to do the noble thing, is that it?" Ban flips his bottle deeply drawing from it as if a wealth of his choosing will be granted to him by doing so.

Meliodas' heart trembles and it takes a moment for him to answer. His head lowers to face his hands clutched atop the bar. "I don't know... what you're..."

"I've never seen you with someone before, Captain," Ban goes on as if he hadn't heard Meliodas lackluster protest, "That must mean you feel like she can understand you right? Like no one else would?"

By now his bangs do a good job at concealing his eyes and the painful waver to them. He manages to move his lips a fraction. "Stop."

"I've had that before, once... And I regret wasting any time with her." His bottle rests on the bar with a hollow thud and his voice truly begins to sound intoxicated though the emotion behind it preserves, "You have her right here. Don't screw this up, Captain or this time it'll be you regretting it for the rest of your life."

Meliodas steps away from the bar silently though a thick cloud seems to follow after him as he leaves Ban to drink himself into a temporary stupor. Behind the closed door of the kitchen his breathing sounds like that after a life or death run, his heart begin squeezed painfully to his ribs as a pressure inside of him refuses to let up. _'I'm making the right decision. I know I am. I just have to stick to it_ ,' he mentally urges.

The sole window with frost gathered at its edges catches his attention and all at once he sees her speaking over a meal animatedly about how she managed to blow out an entire window, he sees in that very room how she held out nails to him giggling every once and awhile as she told stories of her youth, he even sees her staring at him so fragile and trusting before their lips met in a first kiss. Meliodas grits his teeth as his eyes sting and he swallows thickly around a knot of pent up emotion.

If he weren't doing this for her, he's certain he wouldn't be able to do it at all.

~.~.~

Elizabeth is certain something has changed, but she doesn't know what just yet.

The way Meliodas reacts around her is different than before. He isn't behaving as if he's overly nervous by her perusal, blushing furiously at her advances, but overall giving in because it's something he wants as well. He's pulling away from her now. Crafting a cold wall between them in hopes that she won't be able to find the way around it and inevitably give up. Elizabeth's stomach churns as she looks at him seated at her bedside feeding her food that's gone down dry and tasteless as these thoughts surged and it finally hits her.

Meliodas is running away from her.

Something must come across her face, maybe a pained grimace that wets her eyes because he sits up straighter in alarm. "What's wrong? Does something hurt?" The empty bowl is placed on the nightstand as his hands hover over her torso.

She takes a deep breath pushing in the confusion of what she might have done wrong to cause him to pull away from her and gives a curt shake of her head. "Nothing hurts physically any more than usual."

Every muscle in his body seems to freeze in place. Then he gains a slumped appearance as he sinks into his seat his eyes turning dull as he stares at her covered waist not meeting her eyes. "It's funny... You, Ban, Diane, _everyone_ seems to think I'm making some kind of big mistake." Every word looks to carry a weight that wears away at him bit by bit and she longs to reach out and ease his suffering but he cringes away, dead set on his course. "Is it wrong to want to keep you safe at all costs?" His head lifts so that his eyes can meet hers crushing her heart with the harsh finality she finds within them. "I don't think so."

Her lungs may burn with despair and her limbs may tremble with shock, but when he pushes to his feet with plans to leave her in that bed _again,_ she feels something else begin to pulse inside her. It's what pushes her to reach out and snag the edge of his vest holding him in place. He appears surprised for a moment before his hand goes down to try and tentatively remove hers.

The pulsing turns into a crackling heat that drives her forward, wounds be damned. Meliodas yelps at her fingers curling like claws into the material of his vest. Though his reaction shifts into alarm when she pulls him down haphazardly, forcing him to brace his palms on either side of her or risk forcing his weight onto her. "Elizabeth, what are you doing? You're going to hurt yourself!" The strain of his voice as his eyes search her face frantically merely eggs get on.

The liquid strength flooding her veins is fading rapidly so she acts fast fitting her mouth to his all passion and rushed breaths. He's stiff under her repeated kisses for a while being coaxed into responding by her loving nips and languid tongue. Her heart begins to beat wildly when he makes a soft sound urging her to use what little she'd learn as she sucks on his lower lip. He breathes a breathy groan into her and her body trembles as she works her tongue past his warm lips. She kisses him breathless savoring the plum flavor his mouth offers and relishing the way the tips of his hair tickles her skin. She wants so much to pull him down fully so her arms can squeeze him and never let go. But all she can do for now is shudder in delight for him as he sucks her tongue, teases her lips, and urges tiny sounds from her throat that makes her skin blush deeply.

When she pulls back feeling a bit weak as her fingers go lax in their hold there's still a fierce determination in her gaze when she meets his dazed eyes head on. "Just know that I won't give up on us so easily, my knight."

The challenge voiced their eyes lock for several tense moments until Meliodas backs away. He woodenly covers her in blankets then more naturally brushes a few strands of hair from her face which she sighs in content to. "Get some rest. I... know that took a lot of of you. I'll come back once we've reached Necropolis." He gives her, for once, a look she can't quite read before leaving her alone.

Elizabeth lets go of a breath grateful it doesn't agitate her wounds. In fact most of her injuries hurt significantly less after that strange surge of energy. She's much too weary to consider this however and lets herself sink into the unique blend of Meliodas' scent as she begins to drift off. She wonders, as that look upon Meliodas' face crosses her mind one last time, if anyone has fought to have him as theirs before.

~.~.~

Elizabeth awakens to midday sunlight streaming in her eyes and a note stuck to the side of her face. She blinks in confusion only to peel it off slowly when she realizes it stuck to her skin from sleeping on it. A familiar scrawl becomes clear to her and her fingers begin to dent the page with the shift in her emotion.

 _Elizabeth,_

 _You looked too peaceful to wake up, so I decided to tell you this way that Diane, Ban, and I went to search for King in Necropolis. We'll be back soon. Don't worry._

 _-Meliodas_

The paper is placed on the nightstand and away from sight as her shoulders hunch. That was just his way of leaving her behind for her safety. She gets why he's afraid. Her heart still seizes within her ribcage when she pictures him bloody, bruised, and so close to slipping away. She shakes her head as her jaw tenses a bit. "But I'm better now," she forces the words out as she pulls herself up into a seated position only feeling deep aches instead of sharp stabbing pangs. "If you can go out and face danger for my sake and the kingdom's, why can't I be there to support you?" She's a bit unstable, but she manages to wobbly stand on two feet.

Once everything steadies she runs her hands over her arms intending in pulling off some of the excessive bandages covering her skin. "I'm going to be by your side just like we agreed upon."

"I'd have to disagree with that, princess."

It's as if a blizzard descends upon her stuttering her breathing and causing her limbs to tremble. Creeping through the doorway is a women Elizabeth has never seen before with long pure black hair and a thin, confident gaze that promises her nothing good.

Breathing in the ice that fills the air, Elizabeth grits her teeth and balls her fists until her resolution burns bright within her. "Who are you? Another damn Holy Knight!?"

The woman wags a finger as if to chastise Elizabeth. "Now that isn't a way for a princess to talk now is it?"

Elizabeth swivels her eyes briefly around Meliodas' room trying to discover something she can use against the woman. The rapier held casually in the woman's grasp isn't missed. "I can't help it. You Holy Knights are all vile bastards," she spits out as her eyes drift from the bowl left on the nightstand.

"Now, Elizabeth, I don't think that's anyway you should behave towards the person rescuing you from The Seven Deadly Sins." The woman takes a calculated step closer.

Elizabeth reaches for the bowl intended to throw it at the Holy Knight's unguarded head.

Only when she turns back the tip of the rapier lies an inch from her chest with a ball of flames ignited just enough for Elizabeth to feel brings beyond the layers covering her. The bowl slips from her grasp shattering as easily as her hopes for escape. A devilish stare meets her at the base of the weapon. "You're coming with me... whether you like it or not."

Elizabeth sees her move knowing what's coming. Unfortunately it's not quick enough for her thoughts to swirl up and strangle her viciously. _'Is this the reason he doesn't want to be with me? Because I'm too weak to defend myself?'_

The strike hits her cleanly at the base of her skull and her consciousness flees like a whisper upon the wind.

~.~.~

"Has she not awakened yet, Sir Helbram?" A voice inquires crisply through the grog filling her mind.

A hand grips her arm and shifts her roughly and it's then she realizes this isn't some sort of dream. Her body is constricted with thick ropes so tight they practically bruise her lungs. Her legs dangle uselessly beneath her making it impossible for her to attempt to run. She peels her eyes open only to find them obscured by the thick shroud of darkness that dwells in the place.

"We checked her back thoroughly and there were no signs."

She gasps softly as the gruff voice of the man holding her finally steps away. She tries to peek at him discreetly but he moves out of her viewing range.

"How unfortunate. And you're sure you understood the prophecy correctly?"

Elizabeth jerks in her bindings as she recognizes the cool tone. _'Sir Hendrickson... What does he want with me?'_ Her heart presses rapidly against her ribs while her hands curl and twist against the rope. _'What has he done with my papa? He must be the cause behind all of this, but why?'_ Eyes gleaming sharper than a blade, Elizabeth glares under her lashes at the two men that join a distance in front of her both looking down at something. As much as she wants to hiss and spit curses at them for all the hell they've caused, she stays silent, listening.

"Yes it spoke of her awakening after forming a connection with her other." Sir Helbram reiterates with great respect, stepping aside to allow Hendrickson better access to what Elizabeth can see is a large, square tablet upon a pillar of sorts.

Sir Hendrickson's eyes frost over at the apparent delay. "Well there's clearly more to it. The princess has spent ample time with that pest, has she not?" The question doesn't go answered as he runs the tips of his fingers along the edge of the stone.

Something snakes it's way down her spine slimy and biting the longer she gazes upon it. Her eyes having acclimated to the darker setting now notes the intricate illustrations carved into each piece of stone but what stands out the most is what's missing in the center: Two definitive shapes of joints with elegant, curving outlines.

"What are you trying to do Hendrickson?" The words sears past her lips as her body trembles beyond her control.

Hendrickson turns to face her with a calm twinge to his lips that only curdles her stomach further. "Ah, Elizabeth you've finally joined us. How have you been might I ask?" The patronizing tone he takes with her causes red to blotch her cheeks. He's toying with her and it only makes her lash in her bindings as her eyes flash.

"What have you done with my papa? Why are you doing this? You were a Grand Master! I don't understand!" Her voice echoes viciously in the cavernous amplifying the heat of her outrage.

Hendrickson chuckles, tapping his fingers on the stone for a moment. "Still so strong spirited I see. You'll learn soon enough what my plan for the world is. For now you are yet of use to me. You should feel lucky I'm granting you this brief respite."

She thrusts her body wildly trying to break the ropes as it forms a dry sort of pain along her flesh in return. Her hair falls in front of her face and her harsh breathing bounces on the walls. This is the wild hissing persona she'd wished to erupt into before. "What do you mean? Hendrickson! _Hendrickson!"_

He gestures a hand and she recalls Sir Helbram a moment too late. A flare a light whitens her vision and things seem to become woozy and unstable as she sags completely. Before she has a chance to resist she falls into an unnatural sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**~7~**

"The Sacred Treasures that were gifted to you by King of Liones himself," King begins voice pitched with clear flabbergast turns his narrowed amber gaze on Meliodas first. " _You sold it!?_ "

Meliodas shrugs as wisps of smoke fade away before forming once more with his next exhale. "I needed start up money for the bar... About 60 gold coins."

King floating backwards through the air as they make their way back to the Avallo turns appalled eyes in Ban's direction who's clearly fine with the temperatures despite lacking a shirt. " _Yours was stolen?_ "

Ban laughs nonplussed. "Yeah, while I was locked up!"

King growls clutching his fists ready to yell when he turns to face Diane. The giant hunches into herself, fists curled towards her face as the setting sun glimmers in her pleading purple orbs. "Am I a bad girl...?"

King all but deflates as his skin flares red and his eyes gain a soft, though overwhelmed, appearance, "It can't be helped if it was lost!"

Meliodas hides his grin at their behavior, unable to stop himself from imagining how if Elizabeth was there, she'd probably gush at how cute they are and most likely bring up the fact that he'd probably do the same thing and how adorable he'd be for it. His cheeks warm significantly under the frigid air. Honestly he's desperate to see her again even though it's been only a less than a day. Things became quite hostile on their trip with King going after Ban in an attempt to avenge his lost sister without knowing the full story. The fairy princess, Elaine, is Ban's lost love that he's determined to make his one day.

He turns to see Ban cracking jokes at King's expense only to have to dodge Diane's inevitable fury. It makes sense why the Sin of Greed urged him to not waste any time with Elizabeth, but... Meliodas shakes his head before running a hand almost jerkily through the length of his hair. The Holy Knight Guila who'd pursued them in their search for King was formidable. Things would've gone easy had he brought his massive sword with, but he prefers to use that during the worst case scenarios and having his smaller albeit less powerful Sacred Treasure would've come in handy. Still with Guila's relentlessness he's glad he left Elizabeth behind. She would've been in danger and that's been his whole reason for keeping her at arm's length.

"Captain..." The tone stops him dead. Diane's voice etched in worry barely above a whisper, as if to go any higher would bring their greatest fears to reality, pulls his gaze up and straight ahead.

Everything goes still and unnaturally quiet as his eyes lock onto the Avallo right where they left it. In the growing night it looks cold and brittle with no flaring warmth from the inside to shine through its windows that tells of someone living there. Shattered bits of wood and glass litter the snow as if a controlled explosion took out the side window on the second floor creating a gaping hole there. It's obvious the place has been emptied of the precious soul left in its depths and for quite a while too if the gathering snow is anything to go by.

His insides are shaking so much overcome by so many raw emotions he can hardly think. Her curious eyes come to mind, then her pouty lips, her determined glare, her lingering tears, and her never ending laughs. The way she treated him as if he was _hers_ to tease, soothe, care for, and share everything with, all of Elizabeth swirls through his mind and he fears he might collapse from the worry, fear, and agony all grappling for his heart. So instead he moves, not giving himself a chance to be overcome, dashing towards the opening in the Avallo without a word.

"Captain, wait up!" King follows closely behind though this hardly gains his attention.

His eyes search the bed, then the floor where her bandages lie torn and useless, and lastly the nightstand where a sole paper rests like a beckon.

"The edges of the wall are singed... It could be Guila's work," King breaks the silence.

Meliodas feels a fierce shock of heat beginning to wear away at his reasoning. He'll wring her neck for this if Elizabeth is harmed in anyway.

A shifting of the air and he feels King hovering at his side. "What's the paper say?"

The prodding shakes him from his well placed rage and to the note crinkling in his grasp. When he sees the words he wrote from earlier he nearly tosses it away until an unfamiliar scrawl catches his eye at the bottom. The neat almost clinical writing gives him only one place to go. Tossing the paper down on the bed he turns towards the hole ready to make a fast departure. "We're going to Byron."

Taking one last whiff of her faint scent he feels all the strength he needs flow like the gentle traces of her fingers through his veins. He'll carry on and get her back where she belongs at whatever the cost. His shoes puncture the snow just as King informs the others of where Elizabeth is located.

"You and King go," the hesitation is thick in the air as Diane speaks. "I'll only draw attention."

"I hate to agree with her, but you both don't resemble your wanted posters as much as us," Ban adds almost reluctantly. "Besides, there's a hole to be fixed. I'm sure Diane and I can figure something out."

Meliodas gives them both firm nods in understanding as the need to move rustles like an irritant below his skin. "We'll be back with Elizabeth!" He declares before pushing his body as fast as he dares in the direction he knows Byron to be located with King zipping through the air not too far behind. Everything around him feels dull, lifeless no matter how much he disturbs it with the reckless wind he kicks up. The light of night is subdued and bitter. The trees hollow sticks twisted beneath the shadows. His hearing usually acute can't even pick up the faintest sound except the howl of the wind. His nose too numb to scent anything but the stinging cold. Meliodas thinks he's losing it. But really he a small voice insists he's simply starting to feel the effects of being without his own personal sun for too long.

"So what's the plan, Captain? We're closing in on the town."

King's question sparks his awareness that the fairy has probably been observing his rapidly darkening demeanor with close scrutiny. Taking a deep breath so the burn at his forehead doesn't overwhelm, he turns hardened green eyes in the Sin of Sloth's direction for a moment. And as he expected those amber eyes are locked easily on his frame. "Infiltrate the town and see what we're dealing with. When we find Elizabeth we form a plan from there." Orders given, they draw closer to the glow of lights peeking over a hill.

~.~.~

A rumble in her belly is what rouses her first. Hushed, incensed talk is what stirs her further. Her body is oddly positioned she feels, and a dull throb on her skin makes her groan quietly. When her eyes flutter open she finds her head bowed to her chest where she notices the ropes are still tied tightly. With renewing strength she lifts her head slowly taking in the moonlit cobblestone then the people walking upon it all giving her harsh, judgmental stares. Elizabeth recoils and nearly topples over with a yelp discovering that she's being restrained to a tether of sorts which is why she'd slumped forward uncomfortably in her unconsciousness.

Her chest floods with beats as her lungs strain against her bindings. _'H-How did I get here? What's going on_?'

"Mommy is that the witch the Holy Knight will save us from?" A small voice draws her blue gaze to a young boy pulled against his mother's side gazing at Elizabeth as if she's some sort of evil monster.

The mother pulls her son closer and places a hands upon his head. "Yes, the Holy Knight will rid her of the evil that plagues her and make life easier here as well. Now come along..."

"What...?" Elizabeth's throat dries making the word a mere breath swallowed in the cold. Why would they think such things!? Her eyes become frantic, searching each face, coming up with the same emotions. She'd been so used to the other towns seeming so resentful of the Holy Knights' ways that she hadn't expected people to succumb. She never thought they would agree with their vile logic. Something still rattles her harshly as she sits quaking under their disgruntled glares. Why is she there and why do they think she's deserves such treatment?

Her wide gaze trails from one man to something flapping slightly in the wind and she does fall back this time with a cry of distress. A wanted poster nestled with the others of The Seven Deadly Sins depicts a clear image of her face somber and unfeeling for every bystander to view at their leisure. Elizabeth lies there in the snow chilled beyond her frame feeling as if the entire situation is a surreal experience. She knew she was labeled a criminal in the eyes of the Kingdom, but actually seeing it takes the control from her hands in a way. And for a while she can't get a hold of herself. The glares, the voices, the overwhelming oppression nearly crushes her as her eyes begin to feel wet.

"Lady Elizabeth... It's been a long time." The deep imposing voice is familiar and reigns in her frailties as swift as lightning.

Her body is lifted in the air before she can blink and the rope tethering her snapped with ease. Her hair falls around her face messily at the handling obscuring her vision for a moment before the Holy Knight holding her in beefy hands becomes clear. "Griamore." She greets coolly. She can feel mysterious intentions wafting from him and the shadow masking his eyes from his helmet doesn't put her at ease. "You come from a lineage of Holy Knights who've pledged their loyalty to Liones for generations. I won't forgive this." Her voice lowers to a hiss while her eyes thin dangerously.

He gives a brief laugh that stings deeply. Yet another childhood friend who's been stolen from her. "You misunderstand. My allegiance has always been to one." He tosses her like a sack over his shoulder where the air rushes from her lungs. Her hair dangles towards the ground where she can see and feel them moving further into the village away from the crowd of watchful eyes.

Her range of motion is limited and her worry of Griamore's plans for her start to mount. Just as she gets it in her to demand where he's taking her they take a sharp turn and enter a building. Her entire body shudders in relief, the sudden warmth only missed now that she feels just how numb her body was becoming in the ripped night gown and ropes covering her. The word whirls for a moment before she flops on a bed.

The room is dim except for a hearth in the corner. As they remain in silence, Griamore's presence begins to put her on edge. "What are we doing here? I want answers! Now!" She growls tired of people talking over her as if she's a simple pawn in their plans. He doesn't respond making her bristle until a door to the side opens up revealing someone she hadn't thought she'd see again.

"Veronica!" Her eyes aren't playing tricks with her. The stern figured girl with purple locks cropped in a bowl shape around her head indeed stands before her with hands placed squarely on her hips.

"Don't just stand there you big lummox, help me get these ropes off her!" Veronica orders as she falls to her knees hands going to the first knot she can find.

"Y-Yes, Veronica!"

Griamore does the job easily cutting through them with the tip of his sword. And then Elizabeth is swept up in a hug of one of her ladies in waiting. "Are you okay, Ellie? You've been gone for so long!"

Elizabeth doesn't answer right away simply soaking in the familiarity Veronica brings with her to her heart.

"Griamore go guard the door. I'll take care of Elizabeth right now," Veronica calls over her shoulder to the burly knight. When the door falls shut, Veronica pulls back and runs a hand through silver locks then gives a disapproving shake to her head as her eyes roam down Elizabeth's figure. "You're a mess! Let me get you some clothes and food, I know how hungry you get." She says the last part with a fond smirk that makes Elizabeth flush.

Has it been so long since she's seen the women she thought of as sisters and… her papa? She blinks a few times as a quiver of wistfulness gathers in her eyes while Veronica disappears into the room from which she came. Veronica looks to be fine, so maybe her papa and Margaret are as well? Her eyes flick to the exit where Griamore stands beyond as guard and a slight tightness returns to her gut. Perhaps things aren't as well as she hopes. Griamore is a Holy Knight. Something more might be going on here if Veronica is closely working with him despite this being common back when things were normal in Liones.

A door creaks and she sees Veronica come in with a bowl steaming atop a tray and clothes draped over her arm. A single table is in the room with a dainty kettle and pretty teacups as well. Elizabeth wanders over to it and takes a seat as Veronica places her food before her. Her stomach grumbles long and loud and Elizabeth places two palms together as she gives her enthusiastic thanks. Just as she's about to reach for her spoon fingers grasp her ear and give a sharp tug that makes her whine in dismay.

"Uh uh. Dressed first." Veronica chides and at once Elizabeth feels as if nothing's changed, she's back under the guidance of her closes companions.

She does as told, disrobing of her torn gown without protest. Immediately Veronica tuts making note of the dry burns on Elizabeth's skin. "They should heal with some ointment." She's informed with confidence. The new dress is much like something she would wear in the castle and something she hadn't thought she'd become accustomed to. Smoothing the dress under her as she sits, she turns her eyes up only to find Veronica's brown gaze lit with a disapproving flame.

"Now what's this I hear about you hunting down Holy Knights with The Seven Deadly Sins!?" Her hands go flat on the table causing vibrations to stir up the liquid in the soup.

Elizabeth's eyes widen before she drops her gaze, evenly grasping her spoon to begin eating unperturbed. "You of all people should know what the Holy Knights have been up to, Veronica." She blows calmly on her meal and continues to eat without a glance up. She knew something was wrong, she'd just hoped that maybe…

"Of course I know. They're preparing for _war_. And everything they've done thus far is to protect the people!"

Everything coming from Veronica's mouth sounds more than off. They sound like the words of a brainwashed minion. Elizabeth's hand only trembles a smidgen as she continues to eat the now tasteless food, eying the only exit to the room. "So people being tortured and killed for their "sins" is protecting them? Working them beyond exhaustion is what they need?" She surmises before blowing over another spoonful of food feeling as if she can't possibly take another bite.

She can see out of the corner of her eye Veronica shift, turning away as her arms cross. "This is why you're such a child. There's a war on the horizon and without proper action how else will they be protected? Is it really so strange to work for that, Ellie?"

Her spoon clangs in her bowl and she finally lifts her head to fully face Veronica. "You don't know what you're saying!"

"Really? I think it's you who's confused here." Her hands go in a tight grasp around the tops of Elizabeth's shoulders so that the storm in her brown eyes aren't missed. "You and those bastard Sins are hindering the Holy Knights and their efforts to save the people. You must cut ties with them. The Captain, the most heinous of them all has talked you into this, I know it! _He's a monster!_ He leaves nothing but death and destruction in his wake from what I've heard."

Elizabeth shoots up in her seat breaking free of Veronica's grasp as her skin burns hot with anger. "Meliodas isn't a monster. Don't you dare compare him to such again!" All she can see in her mind is the vulnerable way he'd admitted his lineage to her and the tender way she'd held him until he'd fell asleep that night and her belief in her words grows. She knows what he's capable of but in no way is Meliodas a monster.

"Open your eyes! He's just using a mask to deceive you so he can use you however he wants!" Her hand goes and cups Elizabeth's cheek and instead of comfort all she feels is the weight of their disagreement. In the end things aren't what they used to be. The poison in the Kingdom has spread its reach to the closest of friends. "Tell me where the Sins are."

Elizabeth pulls her head away from Veronica's touch and looks down, tense jawed and lowered brows.

"You won't talk… I see." She hears her lady in waiting move away. "Then I can't let you out of here."

Elizabeth's eyes kindle with despair. "Veronica!"

The shock of Veronica suddenly being in front of her forces a breath down her throat. When she realizes Veronica's only placing something around her neck her body relaxes marginally. "This is your father's. He says it's a pendant that will protect you from evil."

Elizabeth grasps the strange diamond shaped amethyst gem in her palm as her throat tightens. "Is… is papa okay?" The thought of her papa being killed at Gilthunder's hand makes her lower lip wobble as she bites back tears.

Veronica pats her head. "Of course. Now sit tight." She goes towards the exit, pulling her jacket tighter around her figure. She pulls the door open where the enormous figure stands on guard. "Griamore, go in there and guard Ellie. I'm taking a break."

The floorboards groan as he enters the room with a resolute nod. He doesn't give her so much as a glance as he turns away from the door to face the window. Elizabeth's shoulders hunch. There's no way she could beat her way past his wall of impenetrable exterior. Her feet, bare as they have been since she was ripped from her room with Meliodas, take her closer to the hearth where she crosse an arm under her bust and places her head in her palm. She thinks all the way back to that morning when Meliodas seemed so adamant in pushing her away. The barrier he steadily built and fortified with his lack of eye contact, his curt words, and his refusal to even be with her for so long. He'd done it for her safety, he claims, but maybe he was just afraid?

She bites her lip as her eyes twinge a bit. She knows he wants what she wants, there's no denying the way her stomach fills with a bundle of restless nerves just waiting to explode every time they kiss. There's no simple end to a feeling that anchors to her soul and fills her with tingles that remind her of the magic and wonder of stardust. So she has to keep her word and fight for him as long as she has to.

She twirls a finger around her silver locks winding the length of it around her fingers then slowly working backwards until she can do it again and again. She turns from the hearth much warmer than before and lifts her gaze only to halt in her motions as green eyes shadowed beneath blond bangs catch and hold her eyes. Griamore is knocked unconscious held up by just one hand as Meliodas kneels gracefully with an apparent fallen teacup caught in his other. She hadn't heard a thing, hadn't felt any fighting behind her and yet there he is carefully placing the Holy Knight down flat while sliding the teacup back on the small table as silent as a breath.

Her heart pounds on her ribcage more violently than a caged beast. Her hands begin to quiver, the one slipping from her hair. She wants to run to him, having missed him more dearly than she imaged, but she can't seem to move. Her muscles are locked in place. "Meliodas…?" _'_ _Please don't be an apparition of my mind that I've conjured up.'_

He does the moving for her, closing the gap swiftly as his arms settle around her waist. She collapses against him with a full bodied shiver. Her arms clutch the material of his vest at his back slightly chilled from outside as she breathes in the scent right at his neck, not realizing she'd needed to fill her lungs with it until her mind overflows with the safety and comfort of _him_. She presses closer thrusting her fingers up the back of his hair until it's nothing but a mess, and that's when he sweeps her off her feet, cradling her in his arms. "I'm bringing you home, okay?" He murmurs low as the tip of his nose skims her ear.

She nods eagerly making a sound of affirmation. Then they're moving and it's a rush of motion, biting wind, and Meliodas' arms tight around her. She doesn't feel an ounce of worry peak, only embers of content at being back where she belongs. Still there's something sharp in her chest that makes her heart stutter. She tucks her head against his and prays her emotions don't begin to choke up her words. "Are you angry with me... for being so weak?"

They stop so suddenly she fears she'll go flying. But Meliodas' grip is strong and true. She doesn't budge an inch until he places her on her feet. They're alone in the middle of clusters of grass and stones with the Avallo just peeking in the distance. Elizabeth doesn't lift her head however worried about his reaction.

" _Don't be stupid_ ," he snaps and she begins to squeeze her fingers to her palms again and again as tears well. When his palms smoothe around her cheeks lifting her face she sniffles and a few tears escape. She rarely cries, but her heart simply _aches_ and the pain leaks from her eyes.

Meliodas' gaze looks pained from the crease of his brow to the pinch of his lips. His thumbs rub under her eyes as snowflakes begin to fall. "If I should be angry with anyone, it's myself. I never should've left you alone. You're not weak, Elizabeth. I don't think I've met a soul stronger than yours."

She lets go of a breath and leans her forehead against his so their noses brush and her watery gaze calms under his caring one. "Thank you."

They stand for a moment exchanging breaths slowly as the snow melts across their flesh. Her eyes flutter then fall shut as she tilts her head just enough. Meliodas pulls back a breadth and she can hear his spike in breathing. "Please... Don't hate me for doing this," he begs after a pause, the words practically sticking in his throat.

Her lips curve gently. "I could _never_ hate you. I know you feel you're doing what's best... just like I know in my heart that giving up on you would be the biggest mistake of my life." She confides as she runs chilled fingers through his hair. She leans over and plants a kiss to his cheek, content with waiting for now.

He picks her up on his arms and begins a quick journey to the bar. "Let's get you inside before you catch a cold."

She pecks his cheek once more, nuzzling his flushed skin in agreement.

~.~.~

Elizabeth had enunciated the depth of her chill the moment they entered the Avallo. In no time, a fire was roaring, hot chocolate was brewed, and a blanket was brought down as she insisted sharing body heat would warm her up nicely. He would've denied such a request had he not seen how much her body quivered. So they're all gathered around the hearth with the two wrapped under thick blanket. Shoulders pressed together and thighs flush, the blush hasn't left his face once.

"Are you sure Lady Diane is okay out there?" Elizabeth gazes around at Ban, King, and himself as her lips purse. Her hands are clasped around her half full mug and she's practically shaped her body to his side. She's taking advantage not that he can fully blame her. He's had to stop the knee jerk reaction of wrapping an arm around her waist several times now.

"I'm fine!" The slightly muffled response from outside answers brightly.

"Yeah! I just finished making her a new coat and blanket," King stammers as he sits up in his large green pillow form of his Sacred Treasure, Chastifol. "Are you sure you don't want to use Chastifol as a pillow Diane? I d-don't mind!"

A peal of delighted giggles from the giantess follows his inquiry. "No thanks, King. And... You don't have to call me Lady Diane... as long as I can call you Elizabeth?" The shy drop off of Diane's tone is conveyed by the way she can be seen twisting her pony tail between her fingers.

Meliodas takes a sip of his hot chocolate mixed with a hint of rum and gazes at Elizabeth's reaction out of the corner of his eye, not wanting to miss a moment of it.

The princess doesn't disappoint as she nearly jumps up in her excitement, her smile spreading across her cheeks like a flower in bloom, and those cheeks gaining a soft dusting of pink because of it. "Yes of course you can!" Her eyes turn to King and Ban, who'd opted for ale instead of the hot chocolate and is looking more rosy in the cheeks than Elizabeth, "All of you can!"

"Thanks, Elizabeth. You know you've done some pretty bad ass stuff lately... I'm more than happy to call you my friend and comrade." Diane continues reverently making sure her gaze is seen as she grins.

Meliodas doesn't hesitate to place his arm behind Elizabeth and curl his fingers into her waist when he sees the slightly dropped jaw and quiver in her blue eyes. He knows Diane's blistering attitude towards Elizabeth in the beginning really troubled her, but this turnaround means a great deal.

"Thank you, Diane. You're my friend and comrade too!"

"Wait a second!" King raises his hands as his brows draw tight. "This is good and all... But why wouldn't we call Elizabeth by her name?"

Ban laughs so hard he nearly falls flat on his back. "Of course you're the last to figure this out. Who do you _think_ she is?"

King's cheeks redden at Ban's teasing before he looks over in their direction.

Meliodas mentally swears up a storm and discreetly pulls his arm away from Elizabeth, glaring with all his might into his mug so his own cheeks don't darken further. Elizabeth makes a soft drawn out sigh of displeasure and sways her body into his as a reprimand for letting her go.

"Come on King~ You know you want to say it!"

Even Diane begins to giggle as the air decides it wants nothing more than to thicken with tension.

"She's... the Captain's lover, right?" King's voice is strained to such a degree in his desperate hope that he's not giving the wrong answer it nearly resembles a squeak.

Ban's laugh is downright sinister until Meliodas downs his drink then chucks the empty mug at Ban's head. His crimson eyes squeeze tight at his laugh turns into a pitched yelp and the mug of ale he'd held spills across the new red jacket he'd acquired. "Hey! What was that for Captain!? I just found this!"

Meliodas straightens his back, crossing his arms over his chest. A blond brow rests firmly over his eye while the other lifts part way making for perfect, dry look. "For giving Elizabeth the wrong title. She's princess of Liones, King."

Ban mutters roughly about how in denial Meliodas is to which Meliodas simply scoffs and tells Ban he better clean up or Meliodas will find a way keep the man dead.

A poke at his side causes him to turn and nearly come face to face with Elizabeth's big blue eyes as she leans over her clutched mug. His heart gives a loud thump at the beauty of such a gaze framed by silver locks. "I don't mind having the title of your lover. It's not true... but I'm hoping it will be one day." She whispers it to him like it's a secret shared only with him, and it's so endearing he wants to agree. But he knows doing so would merely unravel his efforts. Unfortunately huddled together with her awaiting some kind of response he's unsure of how to weasel his way out of the situation.

" _You're a princess!?_ " King's outburst is a godsend as Elizabeth jerks back with a frazzled edge to her appearance. King hovers a bit closer as he begins to look as if he's preparing to explode, fists clenched and features all tense as he grunts. And in a way, he does. A plume of magic disperses around and in the place of the child-like figure of King now resides a large, round man dressed in the finest wears off an aristocrat.

The transformation sends Elizabeth jolting backwards with a startled scream, her hot chocolate soaring in the air in her panic. Meliodas catches her easily, circling his arms around her while King holds a hand towards Elizabeth's flying mug catching it on the air with a flick of his fingers. Ban's dramatic spit take at seeing the change dissolves into ruckus laughter at the spike of chaos.

"I'm so sorry, princess! It was rude of me to not introduce myself before. I'm King, the Grizzly Sin of Sloth. It is a pleasure to meet you," King hastily explains with a bow while still keeping Elizabeth's drink in mid air.

Meliodas helps Elizabeth up arms still wound around her. The look on her face is completely open, round mouth and eyes as pure shock fills her up. Meliodas can't help but lean his head against the side of hers as he chuckles in glee. "Now you know what it's like to experience a jump scare. Hopefully you don't go around scaring me so much?" He whispers in her ear with a wide grin.

Her body shudders in his hold and she falters in her answer to King. "It's a p-pleasure to meet you too. You don't... have to strain yourself when you're around me," She smiles politely in his direction.

King lets out a breath and at once he's the youthful figure of a fairy. He falls back into his large pillow and guides Elizabeth's drink towards her hands that tremble. "Thanks! That takes a lot of me."

"You're weird man," Ban snorts as he lifts up to flick the fairy's nose. A very loud childish argument breaks out between them that causes Meliodas to shake his head. It's starting to feel like the old days when his comrades would sit back and drink and argue uselessly like this.

A pair of warm, full lips begin to trail sluggishly down the side of his cheek… So maybe not exactly the same. He begins to spam as if electrocuted when she sucks a kiss to his jaw. When his arms go rigid, It's then he notices he hasn't left her go. "Thank you for being there when I need you the most... Saving me, catching me when I fall... I'm much warmer now," she makes a cute tinkling sound of laughter and he's sure his ears go red.

He swallows staring a bit dazedly as he feels every curves mold against his side and her scent tickle his nose wonderfully. "You don't have to thank me." He clenches his jaw tight so he doesn't say aloud how he'd do anything for her. She'd definitely ask the inevitable.

"I want to." She croons. Her mug is sat down and she places her head on his shoulder as her hand smoothes across his belly which fills with intense nerve twisting sparks. "Can we go up to bed? I know I probably won't sleep— _I've been sleeping all day_!—but I just want to be close to you right now..."

Close? She's practically wrapped around him more comfortably than the blanket on their shoulders. His breathing escalates as he imagines what any closer could possibly mean. Shifting subtly as something unwanted begins to stir, he gives her a jerky nod that earns him several mind melting kisses along his neck. "J-just go on up, I'll be right there."

She nods enthusiastically and gathers the blankets before almost floating delightfully up stairs. His eyes land on King who's almost effortlessly dodging Ban's swiping hand. "King, I need you to do me a favor."

Encased in thick ropes from the tops of his arms down to his waist King deposits his body in the bed a bit later to the wide eyed stare of Elizabeth. Meliodas gives her a weak grin. "Goodnight..?"

Elizabeth looks down at him for a long moment no longer dressed in the luxurious dress she'd been given, but a simple, flowing cream sleep gown that leaves no mystery to the loveliness of her figure, her fingers curling into the bed sheets. Her lips thin as she turns away from him and blows out the candle throwing the room in icy stillness in a blink. She sinks down, tossing the covers over them without a word.

He gazes at her back for a long moment, then resorts to staring at the ceiling. Whatever plans she'd had are effectively thwarted, but now she's angered with him. He sighs long and miserable. "I can't win either way, can I?"


	9. Chapter 9

**~8~**

 _Only his long ingrained instincts urge him quickly enough to move. He rolls out of the way of blazing heat that impacts the ground three times in small, rumbling explosions. He's only standing for a moment before a pain splits across his jaw and he tumbles to the ground with a violent hiss._

 _Opening furious eyes, Meliodas finds a woman standing tall and unwavering in the midst of her chaos. Her eyes glare down at him as frigid as ice bergs, a stark contrast to the flames surrounding her commanding figure. Boots reach up to her knees while pants hug her figure and disappear into them. Her blouse flows around her hips and elbows creating a perfect mix of dangerous and sweet. She lifts her arms aiming her bow in his direction._

 _Meliodas stands as a thrill begins to flood his system. "You're angry with me now?" He turns his head a bit to spit the blood gathered in his mouth mentally commending her on managing such a feat._

 _Her eyes narrow a smidgen and she draws back the string forming another arrow of flames. His muscles tense ever so slightly. The arrow whizzes towards him in a blink and his sword cuts through the air. "Full Counter." The words are low and full of satisfaction as their magic connects for a split second forming a delicate ring through the air. Then their powers rebound twice as powerful and he watches how she doesn't flinch or move a muscle as the flames speed towards her._

 _He doesn't know why his stomach plummets in a disgustingly lurching way, but it gets him moving, no running towards where the flames impact in a wave of searing light and roaring noise. He's fought this goddess for so long he's not even certain he recalls what it was like before she caught him off guard that first time. They've both been battered, bloodied, and wounded at the other's hand coming out of it as fierce, bitter enemies. She's his challenge that he enjoys besting in this war. But he never imagined she'd find her end without much of a fight._

 _He stops an inch from the center of the impact feeling the heat try and reach him almost desperately. Meliodas' breath stops for only an instant when he finds her standing right where she was before, unharmed, a hand casually placed to the flare of her hip. The fire doesn't seem to affect her. In fact, it seems to be dying out with no harm done to any of the grass._

 _Her eyes gleam in the moonlight as she meets his confused stare. "You like my Goddess Blaze? It's perfect for demons like you..." She purrs with a smile as sharp as her intent._

 _Something rankles inside of him and his expression becomes harsh. He'd actually worried if only a little about her. Foolish. He jumps towards her with a driving fist that she just barely twists away from. "So you are pissed at me? You've come to get a bit of payback?" He spins to find her in the air which he's swift to follow her to. She's not fast enough to block his punch to her gut completely, but she recovers with a grace of flowing form. The harshness of her heel digging into his spine is enough to send him tumbling from the air._

 _He crashes into the ground hard, but her body falling on top of his makes the collision worse. A drawn groan wheezes from him as she presses her knees into his arms. The heat in his eyes as he glares up at her is immense, from the sharp lines of his eyebrows down to the snarl of his lips. But he's shocked to see her expression so frosty. Her lips are flat and her eyes are dull yet resemble ice chips. There's no passion in her actions, no drive to them. She's fighting him as if it means nothing to her._

 _When her fingers curl into his hair and yank he only gives a pained huff, still trying to figure out what's so different with the goddess he's battled for ages. "Yes, I'm angry with you," she admits after a moment of watching him. Her nails claw lightly up his chest drawing shivers down his spine. "And you want to know what a woman does to you when angered? No, what I'll do?"_

 _His eyes roam up her figure curved above his and a leer creeps across his face. "You'll have your way with me? It's only payback, right?" With the way she's been behaving, he in no way would mind._

 _Her fingers slip out of his hair and she climbs off of his subdued form in a fluid motion, marching away from him. "I'm leaving." She states clipped with finality._

 _His lips purse as he eyes her for a moment deeply thrown by her erratic ways. "What do you mean?" He barks coarsely._

 _She stops as he pushes to his feet. Then she turns to face him, shadows playing across her face so it's near impossible to read her fully. "My mother is ordering me to stay within the Celestial Realm for an indefinite amount of time."_

 _He raises an eyebrow at this and crosses his arms slowly over his chest. A smirk comes to his lips as he finds the meaning behind her words. "She found out about me fucking you."_

 _She meets his gaze for a long moment and no matter how hard he digs he can't read past the wall of ice she has built up. Her chin raises and the moonlight floods across her brilliant features. "I told her the Prince of Demons had his way with me and I was unable to stop him."_

 _Now his eyebrows lower heavily. "You make it sound like it was forced." The words come out ground from his throat urging her to confirm or deny._

 _She turns her head away as the wind sways her hair in the silence that gathers. He'd never admit it but until she answered, he hadn't been able to breathe. "No, it wasn't. But..." And for the first time that night he actually sees a crack in her mask as longing peeks through. Then she's cold and empty once more. "It doesn't matter. It's been decided that I'm to stay there until I grow, learn, and hone my skills."_

 _He crosses the distance between them and grips her chin between his thumb and forefinger, caressing the warm smooth skin in a tight grip so she has nowhere to look but down into his bottomless gaze. "You do realize the war will be won and over with without your influence now," he assures with a decisive grin. Not that she'd been much of a hindrance. Having her around though simply made things... interesting._

 _She only shakes her head as if to delve past his arrogant bravado. "Will you miss me?" Her voice goes light and a tiny bit hopeful._

 _It's stuns him for a second before he grins knowingly. He loops an arm around her waist and pulls her soft, toned figure flush against his hard body so that her scent is all he can smell and she can feel just how much he'll miss her when he rolls his hips lewdly up into her. "Oh, I'll miss certain things indeed."_

 _She pulls from his grasp with a curt shake of her head once more. Then her fingers grip the back of his hair harshly as she leans down to kiss him. He expects her to be as rough as her grip on him, but instead it becomes like nothing he's felt in his existence. There's no tongue, no biting, or devouring of mouths. She kisses his lips softly, tenderly, and slowly until he can't seem to find air for his lungs. Her lips leave his but only fleetingly, as she starts to pepper his mouth with kisses, making sure every inch is buzzing with sparks that swirl to his fingertips and simmer in his belly. There's an emotion, sweet and delicate, that lingers across his mouth that he starts to become desperate to understand, desiring to consume it. They stay like that for seconds, minutes, her smoothing her lips over his while he steadily melts under her touch. He can feel her pulling away as she sucks a last lingering kiss to his lips and a traitorous tremble goes through his hearts pushing a moan past his lips that he hastily bites off._

 _He tries not to let the dazed wonder dominate his features as he pants openly after such kisses. What was that exactly? Her way of trying to demean him the way he did to her?_

 _Her hands unravel from his hair and fall to her sides as their eyes meet for a last time. "I've been shamed enough to be able to admit without worry that I'll miss you, Meliodas." She doesn't dally, flapping her wings to take to the air and leave him behind without a backwards glance._

 _He finds himself watching her until she fades away and even long after as a chill settles inside like a numbing sensation._

A breath quivers in his lungs and his mindless wiping of the bar is disturbed when a teardrop lands on the immaculate wood. Then another. And another. They're simply wiped away as he dwells in the feelings he hasn't been able to shake. The dreams that normally fade have began to linger, trampling across his awareness so that they're all he can think of. This latest one seeming to hurt the most as he crumples inwards, wanting desperately to beg the goddess not to leave as the him of his past was so clueless not to.

Meliodas' fingers strangle the towel as he grits his teeth against another wave of trembling anguish. He doesn't even understand why it hurts so much. They're all baseless dreams anyway. He has more pressing matters to consider than the things his mind decides to conjure up.

"Meliodas? Are you crying?"

He jerks back as if flames snapped at his fingers. Quickly he rubs the back of his arm over his eyes as a forced laugh works it's way up his throat. "I'm not crying! Someone just... cut an onion or something!" Denial is high in his voice as he flattens his palms on the bar to face Elizabeth. The embarrassment tinging his face tapers off as he looks down gaining a flat tone. "You're talking to me now?"

Her hand only slight draped in the sleeve of her uniform appears in his vision where a finger begins to draw patterns on the wood. "Well... Not really." She sounds uncertain, like she's breaking some kind of rule.

He lifts his gaze admiring the way she so effortlessly takes to the glow of morning, like a blossom involuntarily preening beneath his eyes. He's careful to keep his expression blank at the prodding of her blue stare and pouting of supple pink lips. "Shouldn't you go back to laughing and chatting with Diane and King or Ban then?" It's what she's been doing since he's been going to bed in ropes. "We'll be heading into Veizel soon."

A flicker of embers goes through her eyes for a moment before they die out leaving her ceruleans cool and hardened. "I would, but... You looked sad..." Now her tough mask breaks away as she looks down crestfallen.

A twinge goes through his chest and Meliodas reaches out a hand to cover hers. It's a small gesture, his rough fingertips rubbing across the velvety back of her hand, but it's like a jolt of something addicting blasts across their flesh sinking right to their starved cores. A connection sorely missed in her silent treatment and his trying to create distance. For a while he forgets why he'd placed his hand over hers to begin with and simply lets himself feel the soft warmth of her skin with slow strokes of his fingers like she's forbidden to him, but he just can't help himself...

When her other hand reaches up to caress his cheek, brush his jaw, and slide into the opening of his shirt collar his hearts stutter and his fingers work up her wrist pulling her closer. Their eyes meet half lidded and a bit dazed as they feel and touch and savor the other. His other hand stretches up to her cheek and pulls her down so their foreheads rest together. And it's intense as they both shiver like aching souls, their breathing rushed and mixed as he tries to mesmerize her taste with the sensory overload. And then in some far off corner of his mind, he remembers he can just tilt his head, close the distance and do it himself...

"Alright, who bet four days?" Ban calls grudgingly.

"Hand it over boys~" Diane giggles all too gleefully as King and Ban groan.

Meliodas snaps back to himself feeling unbelievably hot with an itch for something that'll leave him boneless afterwards, lying just under his skin. Elizabeth's eyes are darker than the ocean's depths falling shut just as she plunges forth. His hearts spring to his throat and he pulls away holding her steady so she doesn't topple across the bar.

She seems to shudder, holding herself together before pulling back slowly as well. When her eyes open they're clear though shimmer with melancholy. His hand is the last to leave her as his chest expands with regret. "I was just thinking about dreams... or memories."

She nods slowly head lowered and turns away from him. "I know you won't share, but... I'm always willing to listen." She leaves to join the group of Sins, one of which sits outside. And they all groan at her downcast demeanor.

"The bet's still on at least!" Ban points out in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Meliodas shoots him a murderous glare from across the room as Elizabeth simply sulks in her seat. His comrades can be assholes. And being Captain of them simply means he has to be able to come up with creative punishments that the lot won't like. His eyes linger on Elizabeth's back for a long moment before he picks up a clean mug to begin wiping. Himself included.

~.~.~

Elizabeth's hands stretch out to her sides as she stands on her toes arching a bit towards the bright sky. For the first time in a long while the sun's rays settle upon her skin and wards away the chill. She bounces on her toes and turns with a wide curve of her lips to the giantess looking down at her.

"You're looking much better, Elizabeth!" Diane comments as she tilts her head with a light laugh.

"I am? Well, maybe it's because spring is finally here!" She twirls with a laugh arms spread wide to once again absorb the sun's warmth. There's still a chill low in the air that clings in hopes of outliving its time. There's still a possibility of future snowfalls before the heat really settles in. But for now seeing the budding blades of grass and sprouting flowers gives Elizabeth a jolt of excitement for the future.

"Elizabeth!"

Her happy impromptu of dancing and bubbling laughter fades as she hears his call. She rotates drawing a finger nervously around a lock of hair as he stands with Ban and King not too far behind. The sunlight turns his hair almost golden and his eyes shine so prettily she finds her heart stuttering and a genuine smile overtakes her features. Meliodas visibly swallows as a heavy flush works its way up his face and it's so _him_ that she can't help but laugh full of delight. She may be upset with him for overreacting, but that won't change how she feels towards him in the end.

"W-we're heading to Veizel now for Diane's Sacred Treasure, Gideon. Come on," he stammers before clearing his throat and looking away giving her a perfect view of the blush disappearing under his shirt collar.

Elizabeth nods then turns to Diane, craning her neck up as her lips form a pout. "Are you sure you can't come with? It'll get pretty lonely..."

Diane forms an expression worthy of a heartbroken puppy as Ban chortles deep from his gut. "Every since a giant went wild at their last festival they've been banned from coming to town. Tough luck."

"It's no fair!" Diane wails tilting her head towards the sky as if crying towards it will change the cemented decision.

Elizabeth starts to feel her stomach twist not wanting to leave a friend alone like this. Her fists clench and a decision forms as she opens her mouth.

"I'll stay with her!" The words she were about to shout come from a more strained though heartfelt voice. King floats towards Diane's side. "You guys go ahead. I'll keep Diane company until you get back."

Elizabeth sighs in relief knowing that her friend is in the best of hands. "That's so sweet of you King! Oh, I almost forgot!" A thought floats to her mind pushing her to dash to the back of the Avallo and drag a wagon with a barrel of Bernia ale into sight. When Meliodas and Ban catch sight of it, the former stares with boggled eyes and the latter tries to saunter up to it. Meliodas is quick to elbow him sharply and give her a raised eyebrow in silent question. Elizabeth places a hand on her hip and puffs out her chest proud of her idea. "I'm going to be the Avallo's traveling waitress! I know business has been slow with all the traveling so... I was hoping selling this would help!"

Meliodas gazes at get slightly slack jawed and something like awe shining in his eyes that tickles her insides pleasantly. Grasping the handle of the wagon securely she pulls it making sure to drag a hand under his jaw to shut it as she passes with a tinkling laugh.

Ban folds over with howling mirth. "Man, you sure know how to pick 'em!"

Her chest practically swells at the praise.

~.~.~

Things were slowly but surely getting out of hand.

Upon wanting Veizel, it became clear that getting Diane's Gideon wouldn't be so simple as winning a fight festival would be the only way to retrieve it. Ban and Meliodas are swift to enter, but Elizabeth's grip on the handle on her wagon turns cold as her heart freezes for several beats at the sight of dirty blond hair and purple eyes. A Holy Knight. And one that knows her well. Of course once the chill dissolves a hot flash of anger begins to burn through her.

A hand on the small of her back causes her to jump with a small squeak. Meliodas is looking ahead however at the same man she eyes to notice. "A Holy Knight. You noticed too?"

Lots of men all shapes and sizes mill about with buzzing excitement as the festival prepares to get underway. An arena of pure rock that overlooks most of the town is where they all stand in wait. But Elizabeth has her sights fixed on one. "Yes. He's been a friend of Gilthunder's since childhood and so I grew up around him as well." She explains finally looking away. Has he come there to try and capture her like the rest? Does he wish to take her back to that place with Sir Hendrickson?

All at once her eyes widen and her skin visibly pales as she brings a hand to her mouth. She never told Meliodas about that! He just assumed she was taken to Byron and placed under the guard of Griamore. With her held upset towards his reaction that night she'd forgotten all about it!

"Elizabeth?" His hand curls around her arm urging her to face the concern lining his features deeply. "What's wrong?"

Her fingers snap around his shoulders startling him with her sudden urgency. "Meliodas, I have to tell you something! I'm so sorry for forgetting! It's just—"

"All right everyone! If you think you're man enough for this competition step into the ring and see if you can be one of the last eight contestants!" A squeaky, wholly unpleasant voice of a tiny man in a red cape and gleaming silver helmet announces over the crowd.

Meliodas' eyes linger over her face for a long time as the people begin to pile onto the raised platform.

"Come on, Captain~"

Ban's call gets Meliodas to move. His fingers shakily sweep her hair behind her ear and he quickly starts to warm under her eyes. "For good luck," he refers to his gesture hesitantly before his voice lowers seriously, "Tell me later, okay? Be careful out here."

He's one of the last to hop into the ring appearing small and unassuming in the calm, methodical way he carries himself. But Elizabeth of course knows better. She doesn't worry for his welfare when the fighting begins. Instead she focuses on what she can right now. Hand raising towards her mouth she begins a slow trek around the arena. "Who'd like a drink of the Avallo's finest. Only five silver coins!"

An almost muffled scandalized cry of, " _Seven_!" follows after her shout and she covers her giggles feeling more and more at ease with the idea of talking to Meliodas later. "I mean _seven_ silver coins!" She may be great at waiting, but the pricing of everything tends to fly right over her head.

A man soars overhead with oscillating yells, landing with a vibrating thud just as people begin to tighten around her eager for ale. She thinks that poor soul will probably need twice as much to numb his loss.

~.~.~

The announcement of the first matchup drew Elizabeth pause.

Her cheerful grin dissolves for a fleeting moment before a customer brings a more plastic replica to her face. Griamore is there as well which can only mean that she _is_ being tracked down. Perhaps even Veronica is there somewhere hidden within the crowd. Her movements become a bit on edge and her determination to sell out her merchandise as quickly as possible more driven so she feels less exposed than anything. She knows Meliodas is most likely keeping tabs on her and there is less reason to worry, but the sooner she's able to be by his side the better.

Bending down a final time as the crowd erupts in cheers at the second fight's conclusion, Elizabeth rises up with a mug full of ale and exchanges it with silver coins. "Here you go, sir! I'm officially sold out!"

A tall, moderately built young man that she sold a few cups to inserts his question in before she can turn and hurry her way to where see last spotted Meliodas. "Would you happen to be on the menu?"

Elizabeth leans her head to the side a bit at this. "Um... no." She's not food so that would be kind of strange wouldn't it?

His face scrunches up into an almost dramatic plea. "Oh, come on! I'd be willing to pay as much as you want!"

Elizabeth lifts a finger to her chin as the men around murmur sounds of agreement. "Well I don't think the owner would be too happy..." Still confused as to what possible reason putting a non edible item on the menu would be a good idea.

"Well where is he? I'm sure I can change his mind!" A challenging grin spreads across his face.

Elizabeth lights up at this. She turns and peers through the crowd until she spots the familiar head of blond and olive green vest and pants. "Oh, he's right there!" She points out happily.

The man marches with a slight unsteadiness towards Meliodas roughly tapping the shorter on the shoulder to catch his attention. Words are exchanged for all of a few seconds before Meliodas grips the man's shirt in both hands so tight the muscles cording his forearms look to be chiseled from steel. The man is sent flying through the air not a moment later in the wake of the raw ire lining his frame. When Meliodas turns in her direction next her spine straightens as she gasps softly feeling a now familiar sensation heating her veins as she unwittingly blushes across her nose.

Meliodas closes the gap between them now looking more stressed than ever and the men gathered around her disperse with ostentatious whistles. He settles behind her palms at her back guiding her to the front as he huffs, "What am I going to do with you?"

For once her simplistic mind can actually think of at least a few things that makes having his hands warming through her clothes darken the flush on her skin. "I s-sold out!" She reveals loudly to cover her pounding heart. "Are you proud of me?"

He circles around her settling his hands on her hips and there's no way she can find her voice now with him looking up at her as if she's the world. "I'm always proud of you," he flicks his gaze to the side letting his hands fall away from her. "Watch out for her guys."

"You've got it, Captain!"

Elizabeth is pulled into reality just in time to watch Meliodas hop into the ring with Ban and notice Diane— _a human sized Diane_ —standing next to King. "Diane, what happened!? How long have you been here?"

Diane smiles wider and more brilliantly than Elizabeth's ever seen. She adorns one of Elizabeth's uniforms albeit with a black stocking covering her left leg. "It's a long story, but I've been here long enough to see you get lost in your own world with the Captain."

It's a light tease, but Elizabeth can't help but look to the ring where the match is moments from beginning. Her fingers fidget as nerves roll in her stomach watching the two best friends stand off. "Y-yeah, sometimes it feels like the world disappears when I'm with him." She admits a bit quietly.

"I used to want that... with the Captain. But that was because he was so nice and treated me like a girl instead of a giant. But I think I've found someone who treats me as well as the Captain does you—at least when he's not being an overprotective idiot." Diane gushes to her with a string of laughs that lifts Elizabeth's spirits significantly.

That is until the first blow of the match is dealt and it's as if the entire crowd shudders under the weight of it. Ban's body is nearly thrown from the ring, his face smashed in with blood oozing from all places. If she didn't know of his label of being undead, Elizabeth is certain her ability to stomach such a sight would be a lost cause. But Ban mends swiftly and her attention switches solely to that of Meliodas.

She hadn't seen much of the other two fights beforehand, but even she knows the speed in which this one escalates into pure violence and destruction is something that could only happen between two Sins. Her eyes try valiantly to follow their movements in the air feeling their powers pulse like waves threatening to knock her off her feet. She doesn't notice herself pushing closer to the ring her fingers skimming the rough rock until Diane pulls her back just as Ban's body cracks the arena in two. When the dust clears and Meliodas lands only a little battered, a wild smile breaks across her face. Things start to tip wildly out of control from then on. For no other reason than Ban's hand lifted towards Meliodas, the blond falls to his hands and knees like a wilted flower as if his energy was sapped from him.

The crowd goes wild at the crazy flow of the fight, but all Elizabeth can see as her body trembles is another time when Meliodas landed in such a similar way only a lot more crimson and less movement was involved. She tries to wiggle from Diane's hold as Ban fights the less agile Captain. She doesn't care about King's explanation on how Ban is stealing Meliodas' speed and agility, what she sees is Meliodas fighting handicapped and that's _unfair_.

Cheeks red with fury as her blue eyes narrow to almost slits she begins to bellow out as many most likely useless words that come to mind while flailing her own fists as if to bat away Ban herself in Meliodas' place, " _Hit him where it hurts, Meliodas! Don't let your guard down! Don't let him beat you up! Please! D-Don't lose!_ "

"Elizabeth..." Diane whispers lowly, keeping her body from sagging when Meliodas flops down on the ground looking worse for wear than the power hungry man looming over him. "I'm sure the Captain has a plan up his sleeve!"

If he does then why does her heart still sputter and pound as if this may be his last moments?

"Look at that smile! I'm sure of it! He's going to use his Full Counter to reflect Ban's attack back at him!" Diane goes on much more confidently than the churning in Elizabeth's gut feels.

"I'm afraid not Diane," King regretfully informs them both with a shake of his head. "His ability only works on direct magical attacks."

Elizabeth feels her throat tighten as a biting cold cuts right to her jolting heart. " _Oh no_."

"What do you mean he's not going to reflect it back?" Diane yells with a pitch of worry that only makes Elizabeth bite her lip until it nearly bleeds, "Then what the hell is he doing out there!?"

Elizabeth watches as Ban's fist pulls back, his crimson eyes locked on the prone form of Meliodas. She's not privy to magic and strength, but the power bulging from Ban is immense even to her, and Meliodas simply smiles calmly as if his small frame won't easily buckle under such an attack. She grits her teeth beyond sick as her nose burns and tears gather at the rim of her eyes. "Meliodas," his name forms a knot in her throat.

Ban slams his fist down with all his might and she can see as everything slows down for a fraction of an instant how Meliodas' face contorts with agony, blood bursting past his bruised lips from the sheer crushing impact he endures. Then plumes of smoke billows up in the air as the arena sustains the wide spread damage that ensures. Everything is too silent afterwards or perhaps it's too painfully loud as a shrill scream fills her ears. She only realizes it's her crying his name because her cheeks are sodden and sticky with tears and her chest heavy with anguish yet utterly numb as her heart refuses to beat. The choked sounds of her cries only muffled by her quivering hands are the only sounds that pierce the air.

Then another joins hers tentative, like a bolt of toasty hope through her veins, "Elizabeth, you can't be so loud... shh..."

Her eyes watery, red and puffy shoot open to see Meliodas' figure, dusty and ruined clothes though perfectly fine smiling sheepishly right at her through the clearing smoke. Ban is nowhere in sight.

She sniffles and gives a wobbly smile, "...what?"

Other sounds of disbelief follow hers until the official, lovehelm, questions in a horridly squeaky tone, "Where's Baan?"

Meliodas points to the distant side of a stone pillar where Ban's mangled body embedded within can just be made out. "That makes me the winner," Meliodas states with a bit of a grin over the stunned shock.

He doesn't stay in the ring for the boisterous congratulations that break out noticing the way her gaze hasn't left him once since the smoke cleared. The moment he lands before her Diane relinquishes her hold. Elizabeth goes to him, falling to her knees so her cheek presses right against his exposed stomach with her hands holding fast to his waist. She feels his stomach flutter briefly under her touch, the surprise flowing through him almost palpable in his sharp inhale. But all she cares about is his warmth that soothes her and his scent that chases away the dread inside her. "You... You went too far in that fight! I was so worried!" Her fingers tense and relax repeatedly in the tatters of his clothes as her words begin to thicken, "I thought you were... My heart was pounding _so_ fast."

His hand comes to the back of her head and slowly as his finger comb through her hair as he unravels the tension building within her until she's lax against him in a deep calm. She thinks for a moment as her ear rests on his belly that she hears a faint thudding sound... But she shrugs it off as being lulled so thoroughly in his presence.

But then he moves taking away his connection in order to sit down pulling her beside him. "Elizabeth... I won't do it anymore," he concedes lowering his head full of stray cuts, bruises, and a soft blush his hair falls a bit forward to try and conceal. She stares wide eyed when he tugs her legs into his lap and begins to tear a piece of his shirt. When he dabs at her knees she winces and whines noticing the scrapes. "You shouldn't go cutting up your knees for me, you know." He reprimands sternly.

She puffs out her cheeks to hide a groan. "They're just plain old knees," she argues.

He shakes his head gazing at her intensely from under his lashes, slowly continuing his careful motions. "No they're not. They're beautiful... Like every single part of you."

Her stomach flips as her heart beats erratically and she knows she's as red as he is when he glances away with platter sized eyes. He latches onto the almost forgotten King and Diane quickly launching a strained question at the two when he sees them huddled together, "What's wrong? Why do you both look so grim?"

They both jump and Diane swivels her gaze wildly for an answer with a strange crease to her eyebrows, "Umm, nothing! Why haven't you both gotten married yet?" When Meliodas merely sputters and she giggles Diane hops around them to the ring. "Anyway, I have a match to win!"

"Do your best, Matrona!" King's more round form cheers on with two thumbs up.

"Don't push yourself too hard!" Elizabeth cries over the building ruckus of the crowd. When Diane turns her back with a confident smirk it's then that Elizabeth sees who she's facing, going suddenly still.

Only Meliodas imploring, "Where did this pendant come from?" draws her gaze away from Sir Howzer.

She looks down at the amethyst gem hooked to her hip and begins to unlatch it in favor of looping it around her neck. She holds it out on her palm for him to see closer. "In Byron, when Griamore took me, he wasn't alone. One of my ladies in waiting, Veronica, was with him and she gave this to me. It's my papa's and it's supposed to protect me from evil."

He stares at it closely with a thoughtful furrow to his brows that simply makes her smile. Sliding her shoulder against his as they prepare to watch the match together she knows she's safer than ever with both her papa and Meliodas close to her heart and watching over her.


	10. Chapter 10

**~9~**

His fingers idly play with the ends of Elizabeth's hair at her back while his eyes focus keenly on the match in front of them. That day has been nothing but slips. From him nearly losing himself in her with that first touch that morning to him having to have a hand on her in some way, even now just touching her silken tresses as he watches Diane and Howzer. Meliodas knows it's because he's missed the contract, having that wonderfully strange sensation storm his belly. He knows it's because he wants more. With the two together and resolved to save the Kingdom, he's starting to realize it'll be nearly impossible for them to be apart. That won't happen until the Kingdom is saved. But still he refuses to abandon all his efforts. With two Holy Knights there at the festival it's obvious to him the dangers that pursue him and that he needs to protect Elizabeth from. However from what he's seen of Howzer so far, that Holy Knight might just be different than the rest.

When the Howzer creates a tornado that engulfs the center of the ring blocking out their view of the battle inside, Elizabeth throws her hands around his back and hides her face in his neck against the forceful winds. His arm wraps securely around her waist instinctively just as Ban's voice appears behind them candid as he observes, "If her feet leave the ground, it's over."

He only catches it because her mouth is a skin prickling, scant inch from his neck, but Elizabeth's tone is certain when she declares, "She'll win. I know it."

The fight is over not a moment later in Diane's favor.

She uncovers her head displaying a jubilant grin upon seeing the scantily clad, but well off Diane in the center of the arena. "I knew Howzer wouldn't defeat her." The joy of her words rush forth almost relieved which make the fingers at her hip twitch drawing her attention.

"Elizabeth, I don't think Howzer is like the other Holy Knights," he captures her jaw between his thumb and forefinger when he spots the defiance swelling in the deep frown of her lips. He turns her to face where Diane and Howzer are, minutely flushing at his daring. "Do you see that smile of his? The Holy Knights I've seen so far have been deranged, murderous, or overly violent. This guy laughed off his suspicion of Ban and I when we were in a room together not long ago." He chuckles low in the back of his throat and carefully extracts his hands from her soft frame.

She looks at him and he can tells she's wavering as she sighs a long winded sound. "All right... It would be good to have one old friend that were might be able to depend on." Her voice is weighed with hesitance but the way she her mouth curves as she looks at him tells him she's more than willing to believe him just on his words.

His stomach fills with weird flutters and heat that causes his fingers to twitch and his head to drop down just when Diane hops to the ground in front of them.

"That was amazing Diane! You did great!," King splurges compliments on her the instants she's in sight invoking titters from the giantess.

"Yeah, yeah, she kicked ass, what's new?" Ban abrasively inserts leaning towards Diane with a sharp grin.

Her cheeks puff out as she glares darkly, "Who asked you anyway!?" She pauses, then in an a much lighter tone, "Captain it's your turn!"

Meliodas jumps up still stewing in his nerves, "Uh, right!" He only manages one step forward before a pair of dainty hands grasps his holding him in place. He glances down in time to watch with a quickly drying throat as Elizabeth places her lips feathery soft across his bruising knuckles. His skin's scorched with her touch yet riddled with pleasant sparks that renders him speechless. "For good luck," she explains wonderfully saccharine with a last kiss.

He nods with an admittedly choked look, his hand slipping from hers as he stumbles away. He pointedly ignores Ban's guffaws and Diane tentatively asking if King will treat her that way one day, otherwise he'll go into the ring with an even darker blush than he already adorns.

Slowly he crosses the cracked ring towards the center where his opponent is doing the same and minutely the features of Cain becomes recognizable. He's the same height as Meliodas with thick gray hair and a mustache that grows just past his chin. "Who would've thought I'd fight the old man who gave me directions in a fight festival...? It's such a coincidence." Meliodas grins easily even though his green eyes gain a calculating edge. Something about Cain's presence gradually brings up his guard.

Cain gives a hearty chuckle. "It's not so mysterious. The world runs on fortuity and necessity." He hiccups and Meliodas notices the blush on his face showing his intoxication. "It may seem like a coincidence that we both came to this festival today, but me entering was not an accident at all."

Meliodas' muscles tense as he eyes the man, searching for his intentions.

"But you sure resemble him... I thought it might be possible when I first saw your face, but when I heard the name Meliodaz ... I knew for sure then," Cain continues ominously.

A wind picks up tousling his blond locks in front of his face for a moment as he awaits Cain's reveal with baited breath.

"You... are Meliodas' son, are you not?"

He nearly tips over as his muscles spasm in recoil. A son that looks exactly like him!? His mind backpedals as he recalls his younger brother. Well it's not so far an impossibility. "Actually, I'm Meliodas." He confirms after a beat.

Cain's eyes bulge as of watching the dead rise. "WHAT!? If he were alive, he'd be in his thirties by now!"

This sparks something in the back of his mind before he leans towards Cain with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know who you are, but so what if I'm the Meliodas you know?" He can't seem to place it. The possible age, someone appearing to recognize him from past his and is now determined in seeking him out... What old ghost are coming back to haunt him?

"Uh sorry for interrupting, but... Let the fighting begin!" Lovehelm's shrill voice attempts to urge them on.

But Meliodas is too on edge to worry about entertaining an audience.

"I find it hard to believe you since you can't remember me. But if you really are the Meliodas that I know—"

Meliodas' reflexes prove efficient as swifter than his inhabited body should move, he has to block Cain's kicks towards his face with deft motions of his hands. The man flips away leaving his hands thrumming from the force. His eyes lock on Cain's movements and that's when he sees him toss off the cloak he'd been concealed in. Meliodas' chest quivers feeling strangled under a forgotten weight as his eyes gain a horrified glaze.

"The Kingdom that you swore to protect... the people... the person most important to you... I will never forgive someone like you, who betrayed everything he once stood for!" Cain's brows draw down with a furious pain as he stands his ground, voice quavering with aggression.

The will to defend himself against this man easily bleeds out as he stares at the crest on Cain's tunic, the crest of the destroyed Kingdom of Danafor. Flames spawn from Cain's fingers and it all steadily snowballs into detestation as it all becomes so clear to Meliodas.

"If you have the audacity to call yourself Meliodas before me then you must be prepared to face the consequences," Cain glares harshly, voice utterly grave. At once Meliodas is swallowed in the searing, choking heat as it eats away his flesh and exposes his sins to the world. "Why did you destroy the Kingdom?"

Another ball slams into him tearing past his walls to make sure he _burns_. An image of a hole stretching almost endless into the earth and dozens of leagues ahead flashes across his mind. "Why did you kill the people!"

He buckles and convulses taking balls of flames one after the other. He deserves to be torched, charred, and condemned, his skin reddened and blistered as he takes his punishment. But even as he bites his lips at the anguish swelling inside, full of deep repentance that reaches into his chest and slowly agonizingly crushes each of his hearts, he knows this won't be enough. Nothing could ever be enough. " _Why did you kill your comrades!? Why did you kill Liz, the person most important to you!?_ " Cain's voice is now barbed as tears come to his eyes.

Meliodas stares with glassy eyes ahead feeling ice encircle his insides, coiling tighter and tighter sapping the life from his core. Like grainy images being cleansed of their fog the accusations that resonates so harrowingly within gain true substance in what becomes so haunting and bone chillingly clear. Rivulets of blood dripping down a blade mixing with water that pelts from the sky. Blue eyes once lovely and brimming with life drain of their color, dimming to a soulless stare.

 _"I'll a-always love you, no m-matter what. Never forget t-that_."

That voice always so kind echoes in his ears and there's no denying the horrible things that happened in Danafor that day. ' _It's true. Liz, I…'_ A wet breath is sucked messily into his lungs and tears curve down the shape of his cheeks. The glow of fire flares into his eyes as he watches Cain produce a swirl of flames large enough to destroy more than just Meliodas and the spectators."I tried to protect everything. But I c-couldn't. I couldn't stop _it_. That is my sin." He admits in a voice barely above a wretched whisper.

For only an instance, he sees her fighting with all her might, tears soaking her beautifully flushed cheeks, and their eyes meet. The plea is there, the desperation to reach him and whisk him away to safety pouring from her eyes and he rips his gaze away. The burn is something he's used to by now as the attack draws closer and is something he would've welcomed... had he not seen her.

" _You stop hurting him this instant_!"

Elizabeth's shrill scream flows above the anxious silence of the crowd drawing even Cain's eye. Her chest heaves with each breath, her eyes positively enraged yet trembling in terror for Meliodas. Meliodas feels his chest constrict finding himself enraptured same as ever by those eyes only now they match the ones in his memory. And the closer he observed the more his memory defines. Elizabeth's rosebud lips become ones smeared in bright moist crimson. Her porcelain skin ashen and ghostly pale. The soft jawline, button like nose, and round cheeks all begin to match and it's all Meliodas can do not to empty his stomach right then and there. _'What have I done?'_

He vaguely hears Cain's breath catch and the power gathered threateningly all but falters. "Liz... Is that really you?"

Elizabeth's eyes set on the old man as a wall of defense makes her glare harsh with contempt. "I don't know who you've mistaken me for. But I would never become friends with someone-"

"Elizabeth," he cuts her off pulling her eyes to his once more forcing him to suck in a stinging breath. "I deserve this. I was unable to stop the destruction of Danafor, the Kingdom I swore to protect, or the murder of Liz." He presses his lips tightly together to will away a sob at the twist in his chest and the ominous feeling urging him away from Elizabeth. "It was all my fault."

Diane, King, and Ban all stand completely silent and unmoving at Elizabeth's side at his words, their faces devoid of color.

Cain adopts a somber air after studying Elizabeth and hearing his words, finally nodding to himself. Cain Barzard, or Barzard the Flame, a man he hadn't recognized from his past strides more calmly to stand in front of him and states, I will concede only of you meant what you said before. You didn't betray Danafor or the people?"

He'd expected a question of this type. He'd just hoped he wouldn't have to say the word that'll remind him of how his sin will never disappear. "Yeah."

~.~.~

Destruction hits in waves so that once you think you have a moment to catch your breath another onslaught is ready and waiting.

Elizabeth had been handed from Diane to Ban while Meliodas and the giantess fought an admittedly one sided fight, his mind still plagued with images of blue eyes and a blade shoved as far as it could go... How is he to go on now with this following him around? How is it that he forgot in the first place? He knew of his knighthood in that Kingdom, knew of its destruction, but anything involving Liz wasn't there, like gaps unnoticed in a shirt. Even now things are pretty vague. But he knows he loved her.

Diane catches him off guard when a throb momentarily pangs at the back of his head. His love for her... That's the crux isn't it?

His thoughts cease as he and the Sins feel them coming like a hellish storm and Meliodas is forced to adopt a menacing persona. Threatening the crowd, claiming the village as theirs, they are words spouted from what people expect of a monster. If any of the Sins feel surprise when Elizabeth strides up to stand almost proudly at his side their personas don't waver. Though inside he's a brittle mess. She probably doesn't even know what their doing and still she's utterly resolved in believing in him. He loves her more with each breath... and that is starting to become his greatest fear.

Even with the threat of The Seven Deadly Sins standing before them, the townspeople don't leave and he's forced to disperse one of the multitude of flaming bombs of Holy Knight Guila's while the others detonate around the town. Instead of running however, most cheer for the Holy Knights that set ruin to their town. Meliodas bares his teeth just a bit at this, spying three Holy Knights descending from the sky more powerful than their last encounter and equipped with equipment on par with Sacred Treasures. "We need to split up for now!" He shouts the order, quickly wrapping an arm around Elizabeth's waist when the Sins comply.

He hooks his other arm under her leg and leaps down the steep drop from the top of the arena. He feels her fingers press into his shoulders, her scent wafting in his nose as the wind rushes up against them. His power bursts from under his skin briefly when he hits the ground creating a buffer and a force to propel him forward in a split second.

"What's your plan?" Her voice comes curious pulling at his attention fixed on Guila's movement trailing them.

His fingers curl tighter around her as his words come out gravely, "We need to get to my sword... and keep you from their grasp at all costs."

~.~.~

Bits of stone dig into her shoulders as she crouches as low as she can within the tight spot, hiding as Meliodas urged her to. Smoke fills her nose every so often like a dry scratch down her throat. Sweat rolls down her temples as her fingers curl against the edge of the opening. Guila had closed the distance before they could reach the Avallo and Meliodas was forced to toss her down in shrubbery near this formation of stone with a desperate command for her to hide. Now though her breathing escalates as her heart beats so fast it's become a painful hum.

Vibrations explode through the air one after another, with waves of heat and turbulent winds. It would be all she could hear had Meliodas agonized yells not overshadowed them. Guila tosses his body around through the air like her play thing with her explosive flames, and all Elizabeth can do is _watch._ Her mind becomes consumed with the images of him taking similar attacks from Cain, not fighting back as he'd been practically burned alive and she _chokes,_ a wet sob lurching in the back of her throat that she hastily covers with a trembling hand.

Why is this happening? Why is he being tortured in front of her eyes again and again and she's unable to stop it!? Guila cries out another attack with twisted delight trilling through her tone and something weakens then breaks all together within Elizabeth as she brings her fists down to the ground."I swore I would protect the people from you monsters, even if it costs me my life."

She emerges from her hiding spot body coiled tight with a silent rage that builds erratically every time she hears his voice break. All she can think of is charging the Holy Knight, taking her by surprise, wrestling that wretched weapon away so Meliodas can have time to run, attack, _anything_ than slip closer towards a bloody oblivion. But instead a stray tendril of calm blankets her enough to draw in a ragged breath and see a decent sized stone on the ground triggering a memory from her encounter with the Holy Knight that first time. A fragile, hopeful grin stretches across her face as she bends down to heft it up with both hands. From the weight of it, It should be just enough to work, not enough to kill her—Elizabeth would never dream of that—but enough to leave her unconscious with a throbbing headache afterwards. Her muscles tense as she aims. Guila lifts her own weapon towards Meliodas again and Elizabeth doesn't wait another second.

She thinks Guila's reflexes will tip her off, the Holy Knight will turn and swat away the flying stone with cynical laugh. There's a solid _thud_ as Guila's body jolts. She tips over and crumples to the earth with raven locks spilling messily across her face. Elizabeth stands there breath loud and rattled with her hands still extended where she released the stone. "It... I-it worked," she dares to breathe as her eyes stare wide and disbelieving. Then another punishing thump comes from the ground as Meliodas' body finally lands motionless and steaming. Distress tears away the fine threads of her nerves as she gives a little cry while running to his side. She's shocked by how violently her hand shakes when reaching for him, afraid to find the signs that this time he really won't pull through when the pads of her fingers press for a pulse. She fights back the sting in the back of her throat observing the singed tips to his normally straightened haired, the numerous stains of blood on his exposed skin, and the varying burns littered across him. When she does finally touch him, he's almost too hot to bear but she feels his pulse thud as if reaching out to console her. She makes a tight restrained sound of relief at this leaning down to press her lips gingerly to forehead.

There's nothing stopping her this time when she hauls him up beneath his arms and quickly begins to pull him away. The Avallo is still much too far away, but there's a building with a stone fence she deems worthy of concealing them. It takes only a few minutes to settle against the side of the wall with Meliodas propped against her chest and her head on top of his.

Smoke billows across the sky, dark and thick from the town carrying the screams and cries of the people. Her heart pangs as she holds tighter to Meliodas full of deep regret and a sorrow she can't escape. Slowly, carefully she removes the pendant from around her neck and places it over his knowing that he needs it far more. Hands flat atop his chest she lays a kiss to the crown of his hair, smelling the rich woods melt inside her. "Please... Keep Meliodas safe."

Scraping metal raises the hair on the back of her neck. "So that's where you were princess." The faint sickeningly sweet voice alerts her to Guila's approach and Elizabeth's stomach knots at the thought of how relentless the Holy Knights truly are.

Another cool, feminine voice joins Guila's and Elizabeth bites back a whimper. "Did you finish yours off yet and collect what we need?"

"Not just yet. But I will in a moment, Jericho."

They're right on top of her like an ocean forcing her down and down until her panicked breathing inevitably ceases. Her limbs lock around his frame as she shakes her head defiantly. "I won't let them hurt you anymore. _I won't_." The seconds bleed from her heart rendering her an ashen hue as the shifting of armor becomes all she can think of.

Then, " _Captain! Ban!_ " A battle escalates between the surprised appearance of King and the two Holy Knights causing her to practically sag with a breathy relieved laugh. Feminine cries of frustration and pain has never been more welcome.

"Elizabeth?" She jerks at the address looking up into King's amber gaze when things grow to a silent conclusion.

She swallows hesitantly, gradually running her fingers through the coarse texture of blond locks. "Did you... defeat them?"

King tilts his head as apathy engulfs his features. "Nah. Besides I need to ask them a few questions." He curls two fingers and she glances around the building at the sight of Ban's bloody prone body being laid within the barrier of the fence. "Watch out for these two and stay hidden, okay?"

She nods as her eyebrows crease. "Be careful, King!"

He smiles weakly and waves sheepishly, disappearing a moment later.

A breath whooshes from her lungs as she feels a tension grasp her heart at the continuous lack of motion from the demon in her arms. "I'm so sorry I'm unable to do anything for you." Her fingers smear in his blood on his skin and the steady thumps are felt as a reassurance. "I promise I'll take care of you when this is all over," she laughs lightly though it sounds halting and damp as she closes her eyes, nuzzling her nose into his tresses. "Remember when you said something similar? You became so nervous and flushed. You were so adorable." She sighs shakily bringing her head down to the side of his so that her lips can rest against his battered cheek. "You always are." A burning like coals rises under her flesh as two tears slip down her cheeks and slide along his skin. Elizabeth peppers his flesh wherever she can reach in lingering kisses, dewy eyed and heart weak with worry. "Please be okay so that I can nurse you back to health... I want to be the one to take care of you this time." She croaks with a too tight throat.

"Ellie, is that you?"

A wind chills across her as she finds her gaze locked with Veronica's brown astonished eyes and Griamore's hulking figure behind her. She was supposed to be paying attention to any stray people headed their way, but she'd become distracted. And now...

Elizabeth loosens her hold on Meliodas, laying him flat so that she can stand in front of him like an unassuming sentinel. "Veronica, what are you doing here?" Her eyes go wide, curious, an airy disguise to hide the trembles that wrack her insides. She'd known the purple haired girl was in Veizel once she'd spotted Griamore, she'd simply hoped her suspicions had been wrong.

Veronica places a hand upon her hip and throws a vicious glare past Elizabeth, to the one she guards. "Why do you even ask, after running away from me like that? What else could it be? To take you back from that criminal!" Veronica asserts with a hard edge jabbing a finger at Meliodas.

Elizabeth is prepared to lower into a pathetic excuse of a defensive stance until she notices the surprised glint that arises in Veronica's brown eyes.

"That's the pendant I gave you!" Her jaw drops.

Elizabeth narrows her blue eyes already thinking where Veronica's mind is most likely headed. "Don't misunderstand. I put that on him in my own. He didn't steal it from me."

An oily sensation slicks down her spine at the smile that comes over Veronica's face. "I see..." With a snap her hand latches onto Elizabeth's wrist as she begins to tug her away. "Anyway we should go back to the Capital before the fighting between the Holy Knights and The Seven Deadly Sins intensifies."

Elizabeth is doused with icy alarm as she begins to try and pull away. There was a time when she'd do almost anything either of her ladies in waiting would advise. Even now she knows Veronica truly believes she has good intentions, but the influence of the Holy Knights has corrupted her. It utterly breaks her heart to know that for now, Veronica can't be trusted. " _No_! What are you doing!? _Let me go!"_

A force much stronger than hers breaks her away and sends Veronica into Griamore's hands. Elizabeth's heart pulses wildly throughout her creating a watery grin that nearly splits her face as she's flooded with elation. Meliodas stands before her arms stretched out to ward off anyone's approach. "Meliodas...?" He's awake, thrumming with power and strength that instantly blankets her in a sense of safety she'd thought she'd lost.

His muscles steel and his tone becomes forceful resonating through every inch of her being as her heart begins to hammer in her throat. "I'll protect Elizabeth with my life!"

She doesn't catch the sneer mar Veronica's face. All she can see is his defense for her, hear his words as they encircle her heart, and feels her skin quickly warming as tears prick her eyes. She presses closer to him, holding onto his shoulders as a honeyed call of his name brushes past her lips. Even now as she hears him calmly refute Veronica's accusations swearing Elizabeth's protection once again, she can see the effect of her simple call of his name in the burn atop of his ears. It makes her smile a bit dreamy as she hugs herself closer. With Meliodas there and well it feels as if nothing can stop them.

"Looks like Hendrickson was right... You really did brainwash Ellie..." The bitter whisper twisted with a devious edge isn't warning enough. " _Roscobasra... Melcito_."

A blinding glow emits in a blink searing at her eyes as a distinct surge of magic sparking in the air makes her wince. She raises her arms to shield her eyes for all of a second. Then the light fades as well as the charge of magic. Relaxing her posture she glances to see what could've caused such an occurrence. Immediately she notices Meliodas' absence.

Only her papa's pendent lies innocently on the ground.

A sick coiling beings to tighten her stomach until she feels lightheaded. Where... is he? Where's... "Meliodas?" She calls tiny and brittle as her vision starts to blur.

Veronica snatches up the pendant with a triumphant laugh that ices Elizabeth numb. "Unbelievable! This 'Goddess Amber' only works on demonic beings and seals them away!" Her brown eyes alight in the flames of her success, driving a wedge through Elizabeth's ribs, "Ellie, have you snapped out of it yet!?" She demands holding her evidence out to further prove her words.

Elizabeth responds in a fury of bared teeth and eyes more dangerous than a blizzard. She roughly takes the Goddess Amber back all as her veins pulse with the sting of betrayal. She'd trusted Veronica and now _Meliodas—!_ "Bring Meliodas back to the way he was before! Now!" Her voice pierces like icicles in no way affected by the hot pain dripping down her cheeks.

It can't be done—at least Veronica doesn't know how. She's more concerned with the fact that her little trick proves Meliodas is a monster. That word again. It makes Elizabeth's heart wrench in her chest as she thinks of everything she's been through with him, and she simply bursts. The anguish, the striking fear, and the ripping of her heart becoming too much for her to hold in. "You don't know a thing about Meliodas! No matter what you label him as by jumping to conclusion, Meliodas isn't evil in anyway!" Never before has Elizabeth felt so lost inside, clutching the pendant desperately to her bosom as her eyes glare hatefully in Veronica's direction.

Again and again her lady in waiting has trampled on her trust, doing what she thinks is best for Elizabeth out of worry and care. But Elizabeth feels pangs of betrayal as she's placed against her will in Griamore's Perfect Shell, treated like someone who can't make decisions for herself. Her papa entrusted the rescue of the Kingdom to her and she's done everything in her power to assure that happens. But every step of the way there's one Holy Knight after another, one friend after the next, attempting to deter her. Right now as Guila and Jericho demand she hand over the Goddess Amber she feels she can rely on no one but herself.

"I won't let you have him! Hendrickson and his plans be damned, you'll have to pry this from my cold, lifeless hands," she enunciates with a hostile hiss, meeting Guila's darkening visage head on.

"Ellie, what is wrong with you? Just hand that thing over and we'll take you back to the Kingdom safely," Veronica pulls on her shoulder which she brusquely shakes off.

The tip of Guila's sword is pointed at her and ever so slowly oranges and yellows coil and dance at the tip heating Elizabeth's flesh even from the distance between them. "My, my... It seems I have to teach you a lesson in manners again. Or better yet after your stunt from earlier, I think it'd be very educational to bring you in for a Baptism. I'm sure Hendrickson won't mind," Guila suggests with a callous smile.

Veronica makes a noise of appall, "So your true colors have shown."

"If you ever believed the Holy Knights had any concern for the Royal Family Veronica, then you have a childish way of thinking," Elizabeth verbally jabs, never taking her eyes away from Guila as her palm forces the Goddess Amber to dig a bit into her flesh.

Veronica scoffs and pushes to stand in front of her. "I have no idea what you and Hendrickson are up to, but you are to be tried in front of a court-martial."

It happens so fast. There's a flaring of lights, panicked screams, and then a surge of singing heat.

Instinct is what tells her to jump forward and push Veronica out of the way, but even then that's not enough. Guila's flames detonate, swallowing most of Veronica's body in a brief terrifying explosion. And what's left after Elizabeth tackles one of her oldest friends to the ground is charred bloody skin that reaches her nostrils and makes her stomach churn violently. Griamore gives the loudest wail of suffering behind her while all Elizabeth can do is sit there with Veronica's body across her lap in silent shock. Tears rain down her cheeks as she chokes out Veronica's name. "I'm... I'm so sorry. I... I don't hate you. You're my friend... Like a sister. Please, don't die," she snivels in quiet halting breaths.

Veronica's brown eyes are hazy with pain and lidded as she gazes up at Elizabeth. In the end she does manage a tender smile across blood drenched lips. "I love you, Ellie."

Elizabeth gasps clutching Veronica's lax palm. "I love you too!"

Griamore removes his helmet to stand over them revealing his tear streaked face, "Veronica, please forgive me. I was never able to be someone you could count on."

Veronica's head lulls to the side as her voice grows faint. "You dolt... Well, now's your chance. Don't become... like them. Do your duty and protect Elizabeth."

Elizabeth's breath sticks in her chest as she watches Veronica's eyes slowly drift closed. She bows her head feeling her body quiver from sobs. _'No... She can't be... really..._ '

Griamore falls to his knees crying Veronica's name to the heavens just as another ball of flames sends him tumbling away. Her head jerks up in alarm, but two arms lock around her from behind. "Time to go!" Guila coos in delight.

"You bitch!" He rasps from his place wounded on the ground as she struggles in the iron grip of the Holy Knight feeling her ribs shuddering from the force of her heart, "Just what is it Hendrickson is after!?"

Guila lifts her body away from Veronica's as she begins to thrash hysterically. "The resurrection of the Demon Clan."

She can feel herself losing control, her nerves becoming overwhelmed as she sobs and wails. Elizabeth doesn't even realize when she begins crying out Meliodas' name. He's her safety blanket, the one who makes her feel the warmest, happiest, and most protected of them all. He's always there when she needs him. He promised. Promised he'd always be there by her side. So from the depths of her heart she screams for him.

And he heeds her call.

The goddess amber gains an ominous glow levitating from her palm before it shatters as a devastating force from within erupts. Elizabeth stills in Guila's grip as a cold sweat beads her temple watching as pure inky darkness curls and twists towards the sky in a mass that could very well consume the entire town. Then it dissipates and standing before her is a Meliodas that'll frequent her dreams for nights to come. Lightly tanned skin, toned to perfection is bare to her eyes from head to toe. Black swirls down his left side as if painted by an artist and strips of cloth cover his waist teasingly. His face is a clean slate with prominent black eyes fixed straight ahead.

Elizabeth knows she should feel at least unease trickle like drops of ice down her spine, but all that tangles up inside her is concern for him. Then she sees his head adjust its sights just the slightest.

"Meliodas! How did you break free of the Goddess Amber!?" Guila hisses in contempt.

Elizabeth blinks and the tension gripping her arm releases. Meliodas is exactly where he was but… Her eyes tremble as her breath rattles from her throat. In his hand is Guila's dripping blood from the clean cut below it as if it'd been in his position to begin with.

A terrible screech comes from her side as Guila the agony of her lost appendage catches up with her. Elizabeth can't move a muscle, watching as he tosses it away with the same blank, emotionless stare. She spies Ban near Jericho both of which are pale and shaken by the turn of events. He moves again extending his hand outward as Guila roars hoarsely, "How dare you!?"

Magic begins to bubble and pop through the air once more crackling around his palm and her heart all but stops at what begins to materialize there.

" _Shit_!" Ban thunders just as the massive sword in Meliodas' hand gives a light swing.

Elizabeth's hair whips around her as the attack blows past her sending Guila and Jericho tumbling with shrill screams. Her fingers curl into the dirt having fallen to her knees as she gapes at him observing them all and yet not at all. _'_ _He could kill them if he wanted. Easily. Is that what he wants to do?'_ She hears Jericho's panicked rush to use a spell to save Guila just as Meliodas lifts his sword once more. Her gut lurches and a desert forms in her throat.

 _"_ _Meliodas!"_

He halts, turning his head towards her. Her heart gradually speeds when he lowers his sword letting it go altogether as it vanishes. Meliodas takes a step towards her and Ban cries out harshly, "Captain, don't—! Is that… really you?" In an instant Meliodas shifts and power explodes around him forcing her eyes closed as chaos ensues around her. All that can be heard is angered winds, shrill cries, and wet coughs as something happens to the people around her.

Taking deep shaky breaths she finally opens her eyes when things settle into an eerie calm. And there he stands a foot in front of her. The land several yards outwards surrounding her looks to be scooped out so that only a tiny circle of land for her to sit on still exists as a pedestal of sorts. She squeaks when he leans down right into her face and begins a rapid sniffing. Slowly he positions himself so that his nose rests right against hers and their gazes meld into one another. She thinks it's surreal how quickly her heartbeat fills her hears as heat bridges across her nose. She doesn't dare break what could be an intimate gesture, mentally declaring that he won't hurt her. She blinks at the same time he does and she can't help but giggle, a sound that seems to please him as he drags his nose along her cheek. "Meliodas… what's happened to you?" She sighs closing her eyes trustingly.

He pulls back abruptly drawing her focus only to see him gazing off in the distant. His right hand raises to the sky and a soft hissing sound mixes with the wind as the darkness along his skin begins to morph into a magnificent wing. With a flap he takes to the air becoming a dot in the distance before she can even form an objection.

It becomes a horrible, gut twisting, tear wrenching waiting game from then on. And only when the sun begins to set, after the efforts of Diane and her returned warhammer, Gideon, is Meliodas rescued from his near defeat at the hands of the Holy Knight Sir Helbram. Never before has she been so happy to see the roughhousing between he and Ban, but truly her heart soars when her arms fall around him and he hugs her tight as if to let go would shatter his world.

"Meliodas!" She slides her fingers along his shoulder blades. "Meliodas..." She sighs rubbing her cheek against his. It's heaven, sweet as honey being in his arms. But then she notices an almost unnoticeable tremble in his limbs. She pulls back and gazes into his face noticing the stricken glaze dulling his green eyes.

"I'm... I'm sorry," he breathes raggedly yanking her concern to the surface forcibly.

Her hands cup his cheeks trying and failing to search the emotions in his eyes. "Sorry? About what?"

The chatter of the Sins behind them dies down when a clatter of rocks draws their attention keenly. Elizabeth reluctantly turns away and stiffens at the sight of Griamore holding Veronica like his most precious person lost to him. His Perfect Shell fizzles out of sight around the two when Elizabeth strides towards them walking a delicate balance between forcefully composed and utter mourning.

His head leans against Veronica's as his tears soak her skin. "Lady Elizabeth, I'm a failure as a Holy Knight. I didn't follow my duty to protect you. But I... But I..."

Seeing his heartbreak simply strengthens her resolve. Now's not the time to grieve when there's still so much left to face. "Pernes... The lakeshore where we used to play together all the time. Veronica loved it there and it holds many memories. Would you please bury her there?" She turns after giving her request only to pause to declare one final thing. Tears fall silently down her cheeks but she feels stronger than ever gazing into the astonished gleam in Meliodas' eyes. "No matter what, definitely, even if I die, I'll stop the Holy Knights. _I'll stop them for sure._ " Her fists lift to clench determinedly before her.

Meliodas is the first to break eye contact, gazing downwards with a flush at her wording, but the prideful smile isn't missed. She swivels her gaze across the Sins to see them each grinning at her in their own way offering their support. She relaxes a bit at this moving to stand beside Meliodas as she wipes her face free of tears. And them sure watches sullen as Griamore departs with Veronica held carefully in his grasp.

"There's discord among the Holy Knights," Meliodas notes with a cross of his arms.

After flicking a very sensitive King invoking a yelp from the fairy, Ban drawls in an offhanded manner, "Anyway, Captain, what happened with that Helbram weirdo."

Elizabeth shifts recalling the way the Holy Knight seemed almost desperate to obtain something from Meliodas, but what had he fled with? She wracks her mind for the answer only for Meliodas to give it to her dry and severe. "He took my blood."

Shock unsteadies her as her eyes fix to the deep gash on his chest bleeding still even now. "Is that okay?" She doesn't even know if she's asking about his well being or about them taking his blood. There's far too much to even try to process from that day to even begin piecing together why such a thing would be needed.

His voice lowers and his words sound almost bleak, "It's not okay at all. The situation is dire," his mood gradually morphs as she falls downcast, "But honestly... Elizabeth, if you're all right, then it doesn't matter."

Elizabeth stares almost trapped within his gaze as the thudding of her heart begins to resonate throughout her body. _'There it is again_ ,' she thinks feeling a sensation come over her as her insides become jittery and toasty, her face heating up like never before. Only this time it's strong, overwhelming in a good way. She smiles almost bashful in his direction feeling as if she's floating through the air and he's her only tether. Or perhaps falling would be a better word. Her heart pounds as she steps closer listening to him suggest they head back and clean up first thing, nervously taking his arm in her hands when she's close enough. He looks up at her with one of his flustered, quirky expressions and her reasoning solidifies.

Yeah, falling is definitely the right term.


	11. Chapter 11

**~10~**

Upon arriving to the Avallo Meliodas ushers Elizabeth upstairs earning whistles from Ban who's sharply reprimanded by King. He draws her a bath which she happily takes, but Elizabeth is wise to the air hanging around him. He's quiet and distant, hardly even looking as if he's there in mind.

When she finishes, he wraps her in a towel and she's left to dress before he suggests she go down to eat with the others. Elizabeth only does so at the promise that he'll join. He gives a halfhearted nod saying he will after he cleans up, which she pulls her lip between her teeth at, indecisive. She asks very quietly if she can help clean his wounds. The look in her eyes and the tremble in her voice must reach him because his eyes finally gain clarity. She's told not to worry and that he'll be good as new with utter sincerity, and then she's closed out of the room.

Dinner finishes. King joins Diane outside. Ban stays with her for a while before pilfering ale and stumbling up to his room. She's left alone.

~.~.~

Elizabeth sits on the smooth wood with a thin sheet wrapped around her shoulders. It's still a bit chilly, but not enough for the hearth to be lit, so she uses her sheet to cuddle up alone. Well, not exactly alone.

Moonlight faintly makes its reach towards her from the window Meliodas looks resolutely out of. His hands nimbly manning the controls on the neat panel so that the Avallo doesn't smash into any mountains like when she tried to control it. His back is a rigid line towards her, but she doesn't mind. He'd eventually come down, but not when he said, free of wounds, most likely thanks to his demonic lineage. She doesn't hold any upset towards him having her wait as that far away look still has its claws in him. Her feet kick lightly so as not to hit anything behind the bar, and a quiet lilting tune breezes past her lips helping her fill the silence.

His shoulders tense. "You can go to bed, Elizabeth."

She pauses in her song, "If you're staying up then I'm staying up with you, silly." The day had been long and trying. She doesn't wish to leave him alone after it. A small part of her desires his company for her sake as well.

She continues her made up song for a while watching the way his shoulders eventually settle into a slope before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?" She's referring to Cain and Liz. She brings it up because he looked absolutely shook over it and because she wants to know more as well about this woman that has a name similar to hers. Liz _must_ be a nickname.

Meliodas becomes more wound than a knot and she quiets. Then taking a breath she hops down on bare feet clenching her toes against the cold wood before padding over to his side. The buttons on the panel catch her eyes first and she has to resist reaching out to touch one. The lands sprawl out through the window, all rolling hills, blossoms, aged trees, and muted hues. It's the perfect night out and she hums softly at this. "Do you want to talk about your dreams then? I'm happy to listen."

"Elizabeth..." He sighs deliberately.

She tugs the sheet around her shoulders a bit more. "When I was really little, maybe to your knee, there was this knight my papa said I was smitten over," she starts off with a tender smile. "I would apparently watch him every chance I could, but I was never brave enough to approach him even though my papa assured me that I could. It was only once when he noticed me peeping at him one afternoon and he came up to me. I never had the chance to tell you, but my favorite fruit are plums because he was kind enough to share them with me that day. Whenever you kiss me I'm flooded with that flavor and it's so wonderful."

She sees from the corner of her eye Meliodas give a slight smirk. "So I remind you of your favorite knight, huh?"

She brushes her shoulder against his with a brief laugh. "No! You feel like home." Their faint reflections show the red clearly darkening across his face.

A moment later he clears his throat. "I was a Holy Knight in Danafor."

She makes an exaggerated gasp. "You were a monstrous Holy Knight!?"

His smile lifts her heart significantly. "Yes, I was a _Holy Knight_. There was a girl from the enemy Kingdom that was captured and made a prisoner after a stunt she pulled... and she was almost put to death for it. She'd stared her possible demise down with no sign of fear. So I thought that either she had no remorse or she didn't deserve what was being done to her." He shrugs with a far off look in his eyes as if reliving the memory for the first time. "So I had her freed and took her into my home as my responsibility."

Elizabeth glances down as a clammy, unsettling feeling forms in her stomach. Her fingers twist the corners of the sheet. "Do you always take your possible lovers into your home?"

The clicks of the controls cease altogether. "Elizabeth, I had _no idea_ you... I... We would... I took you in because you looked like you'd been through alot and I thought you had information on the Sins we're still looking for." He assures placing a hand on her shoulder. It's weight is heavy and strong and in her mind, as she looks down at her twiddling fingers, she finds it comforting.

"So you have a whim?"

His fingers curl into her a smidge. "... Maybe?" He lets go and turns back to the controls. "There's no need to worry or feel insecure." Is that what that feeling in her belly is? "I love you differently than I did her."

Meliodas is certain he's descended into a pit of arctic water, all his limbs becoming heavy, his eyes rounding fretfully, and a chilled breath escaping him. What's it with her that makes him admit his most hidden secrets without thought? He jerkily turns his head in her direction and the first thing he notices his the thick tress of hair fallen in front of her ear as she gazes down. The more details he picks up, like the way her fingers pull and tug at the sheet and the steady glow across her cheeks helps relax his panicked muscles. It's the tiny smile that does it though. Like more than just a dream has come true to her, her entire world looks to be shaping before her very eyes and she looks as if she wants nothing more.

Swept up in the courage such a look grants him, for a time, he shuts out the sinking, nagging sensation at the back of his mind and faces her completely, pressing a bit closer. The edges of his eyes form a soft crinkle as he professes the secrets of his hearts, "I do love you, Elizabeth. In the worst of hell, you're my piece of heaven. You're the light in this godforsaken world," he sweeps her small hand up in his holding it carefully as her mouth forms a cute purse to hide the tremble of emotion that wells in her eyes. "You're the sun, the moon, the stars that I look to for guidance. Elizabeth, you drive me crazy... But I'd go _insane_ without you." He gives a quirky smile now standing almost chest to chest becoming tangled in her scent that brings him peace.

She gasps a wet sound from contained tears and trails her fingers across his cheek, eyes overcome with adoration. "Can I please kiss you? Even if it's just tonight," she breathes brushing the pads of her fingers over his lips eliciting a heated wave down his spine.

He knows it's the wrong thing to do, but then again he's not thinking with reason is he? Meliodas nods not even finishing the gesture before her lips meld over his, and damn if his hearts don't burst from over exertion. Her kisses are slow and he makes them deep. She becomes a bit more frantic and he meets her with aggression. Breathing escalates, hands slide down curves and grip hair tightly. He's missed this. Her flavor savored across his tongue, her lips meeting his perfectly again and again, and the sounds of delight that rise to greet his ears. He's missed having Elizabeth as undeniably his.

Their mouths break apart only so he can drag his lips down her jaw and along her pale throat. His tongue darts out desperate for a taste and she gasps, trembling in his arms. He lets his tongue slide against her smooth skin and she makes a throaty moan that shoots a jet of heat south. Her fingers dig into his shoulders blades as he begins to suck and tease her flesh between his teeth drawing little noises that forms an itch under his skin and has to resist the urge to grind his hips into hers. He loves pleasuring her in any way and when her knees give out, her falling limp in his arms as he gives her neck a last kiss, a swell of pride forms in his chest.

Her head settles in the crook of his neck as she breathes puffs of warmth along his flesh rapidly. He holds her for a long while, bending down to sweep her up in his arms. He's never felt so elated than he does having his heart known and her happy in his arms.

Then she says with a kiss like embers to his cheek, "I love you too, Meliodas... Do you remember what it's like when you're a kid and you lay out under the stars for the first time? That awe and wonder and pure joy you experience is what this feels like. Loving you feels like a never ending mix of all those and even more."

So maybe this is the happiest he's ever been he decides as his hearts thump contentedly.

He lays a kiss to her forehead while blushing heavily. "Let's go to bed, okay?" He murmurs.

He feels her nod and walks them over towards the consol. Glancing outside the window he notes Diane asleep most likely having settled down when he stopped. Elizabeth hops out of his arms long enough for him to settle the base of the Avallo in the earth and conceal the controls behind the shelves of ale. She leaps into his arms sheet in hand giggling, eyes appearing brighter than ever before.

He feels it too, as he carries her up the stairs that creak with age. The buzz of pure rapture of knowing that he's in love with the person that fills the empty place inside he'd been ignorant to. It's more than a rush. It's like never ending sparks on his flesh, like a charge runs through him every time his eyes meet hers. It's like his hearts swell up ready to burst every time she's near. It's deeply fulfilling all the way down to the far reaches of his soul. Meliodas doesn't want to give this up. And yet after tonight...

He may not know all the reasons, only that what's happened that night shouldn't go any further. It'd be dire if they do. But just for a single night he can let himself pretend that's not the case.

~.~.~

Upon emerging from the washroom Elizabeth spots him nervously fidgeting beside the bed, hands fussing with the sheets, cheeks a dusty pink hue, and the collar of his baby blue sleep shirt rumpled at his neck. She silently rolls out an, " _Ooh_ ," to herself before covering her smiling lips briefly. She'd been so focused on dressing down and getting into bed with him that she hadn't even considered the fact that King had long since gone to bed. That's what Meliodas must have been fretting over the most.

Elizabeth walks on the slightly squeaky planks towards the sole window behind Meliodas and closes the curtain a smidgen. She turns to face him lips already nestled softly in the swell of her cheeks and gives him a lingering kiss on his red cheek. When his hands tentatively rest on her waist, then more heavily sink around her pulling her towards him in an embrace she sighs, nuzzling into the side of his neck. Is that what being in love feels like? Her eyes feel a bit droopy, breathing him in, feeling his heart, surrounded by his warmth. Elizabeth could stay like this forever. But…

"Come on, it's time for bed!" His nerves have been tempered some, so it's time to put him to bed. He deserves it after everything.

Meliodas' eyes seem to spark back to reality at her insistent pulling at his hand. "R-right…"

She climbs into the nicely made bed messily over to her side, tugging him in behind her. Once beneath the sheets, Meliodas blows out the candle on his side and she does the same on hers and they both settle in. Though Elizabeth doesn't let Meliodas slink away from her until she reaches over and melds her lips over his. She can't help but hum into his mouth at the pleasant sparks that pop between them, her fingers curling into the firm muscle along his arm as her heart flutters away in her chest. She makes a soft pitched noise in her throat when his knuckles brush tenderly across her cheek, his thumb settling on her chin before he pulls away. "...Goodnight, Elizabeth." His eyes drift back and forth between hers looking to be memorizing her in some mysterious way.

She swallows. "Sweet dreams, Meliodas." She pulls reluctantly away to give him his space and turns her back for her own sake. If her papa could see her now. In love and sharing a bed with a man she's not married to? He'd blow a blood vessel or two.

She calms herself down of the giggles the image her papa would make and instead curls a bit in on herself and attempts to make it seem as if she's drifting off to sleep. She knows Meliodas is tense about their arrangements and probably won't fall asleep until he's assured that she is, so Elizabeth evens out her breaths and is careful not to move too much. The Avallo is quiet. She doesn't hear a peep from Diane or King though she slightly hears the snores from Ban in the room above. Meliodas' breathing is most apparent however and she can tell that it's slowly but surely getting deeper.

With the slight drop of temperature in the room as night well and truly settles, so does Meliodas into his sleep. Elizabeth finally relaxes and hesitantly turns to see his back facing her. A strip of moonlight soaks him in an ethereal glow that seems to draw her in like the warmth that buzzes across her face. Elizabeth slinks closer intrigued in her stare and a desire to explore like she's wanted to for a while now. She kept her hands to her stomach holding in their warmth so that when she eases her palms beneath his shirt and to the skin of his back he actually pushes towards her with an even exhale.

Elizabeth's eyes shut as her forehead presses against the back of his head allowing her to sink into the feel of his taut skin over muscle smoothing along her palms. It's so different from the rushed, frightened moments on battle when her fingers graced his flesh. The bumps of his spine running beneath her thumb, the sweep of his shoulder blades under the spread of her fingers. She gasps and bites her lip feeling a prick at her eyes as she runs a fingertip along the raised skin running a precise diagonal down the length of his back. Touching, feeling, exploring him, Elizabeth doesn't wish to stop. She wants to cherish every mark, every scar, every piece of this man.

The insatiable urge to be as close as she can possibly be to him comes unbidden and she gives a choked albeit quiet laugh into his hair as one palm smoothes over a defined waist to his tight abdomen. "Get ahold of yourself, Elizabeth. Whether it be our wedding night or before, Meliodas won't leave me." She assures herself, pushing back the excitement simmering between her thighs.

Her thumb tickles circles along his belly causing him to shiver and give a shuddered breath resulting in her splaying her palm flat. She presses right up behind him wanting to be as near as she can. She feels almost guilty touching him as she is, even though it's rather innocent, but she knows he'd be reluctant to let her do this if she asked, afraid of what it might lead to if he did agree. So she slides her nose along his neck, breathing in his scent before planting a kiss on slightly tanned skin beneath his collar, enjoying this while she can. Her hand goes up the planes of his belly seeking his heartbeat. He shifts abruptly when her thumb brushes a stiff nipple and she feels something she normally wouldn't.

Elizabeth carefully extracts herself from him with wide eyes. She wonders if she imagined it, then resolves to find out for herself. Cautiously, she eases him from his side to his back, holding her breath to see if he stirs. When he doesn't, she slides his shirt up drinking in the glow the silvery light brings to his flesh for only a moment before pulling her hair over one shoulder. Then she presses her ear to his stomach with a held breath. It only takes a moment to hear a set of thuds where they most definitely shouldn't be. She pulls back breathing rushed as she stares down at the bunched shirt above his stomach contemplating the possibility of him having more than one heart.

Elizabeth's fingers quickly undo the buttons on his shirt pushing it apart as she moves to sit atop of his thighs. Her ear goes to his torso sliding carefully along it to hear the different beats. It's true. How can that be…? Her fingers shakily hold onto his shoulders as she lifts herself up only to be met with sluggish green eyes. Air catches in her throat sharply. "Meliodas!" She whispers a bit panicked. She'd forgotten about waking him in her discovery.

His fingers land on her thighs as he blinks, maybe thinking he's dreaming still from the weariness rimming his eyes. "What are you doing?"

Pulse thrumming against her skin, she swallows and sits up in his lap mentally grasping for an explanation. "I was… listening to your… heartbeats?" Heartbeats. Multiple. Her skin prickles in deep worry.

The languid look within his eyes begins to peel away at the information and she has to act fast to keep him docile. Her fingers sweep through his hair gently, brushing against his scalp in calming passes. He immediately loosens beneath her and his eyelids fall halfway. "You're okay with it?"

' _Okay with it? He's admitting that he has_ …' Her brows raise to her hairline in shock for only a second before she relaxes atop of him, curving her body more towards his, so that their eyes hold deeply. "They're apart of you, my knight. Of course I am," She kisses his rosy nose tenderly flushing at the thought of how seven hearts—if her count is correct—will just allow him more to love her with.

Meliodas takes in a long deep breath sliding beneath her a bit and she bites her lip _really_ feeling what her touches have done to him. He blinks calmly up at her possibly even close to sleep, but maybe she can… She slips off of him shivering at the soft moan he gives which makes her decision cement all the more. Elizabeth has no experiences when it comes to men, only what she's vaguely heard around the castle growing up, what she's blatantly been told from Margaret and Veronica, and her time with Meliodas. She wants to please him however.

Her fingers hook into the waist of his pants and a quick intake of breath from him urges her to slide her lips along his jaw in a comforting manner. "Shh… just let me…" She breathes around a thick swallow peering down when she pulls his pants down far enough for his excitement to spring forth eagerly. Her eyes flash and a blanket of heat envelops her skin tightly as she gets her first real look at the stiff length poking at her thigh. Her hand comes up fingertips brushing the immense heat until his own encircles her wrist pulling her away.

She feels his nose skim her forehead as he settles his head against hers, swelling her rapidly beating heart with content. "Mmm… it'll get messy… just sleep… 'kay?" The drowsy drawl, low and rumbling in his chest, sets off a shaky tremble in her limbs that only gets worse when his large palms smooth around her waist pulling her stomach flush against his. Her leg curls over his and once more she's draped around his figure this time with their heads pressed in the pillows inches apart. She loves the intimacy, relishes in it, and merely longs to be closer. It's simple for her to stop his hand when he goes to pull his pants back in place and instead place it on the small of her back.

His tresses weave between her fingers as she eases the confusion from his brows and fogging his eyes. Her lips lazily blaze a trail down his cheek to his addicting mouth as Elizabeth is pulled to the feelings he always coils within her. The little grunt he gives as the heat between her spread legs is pressed to his rigid length is taken carefully into her mouth and savored. There's only a thin layer between them with her nightgown having ridden up with all of her shifting so his heat is distinct and intoxicating, encouraging her to roll her hips along the length of him to the breathy hum in his throat.

Her limbs buzz with tension as their lips pull apart allowing her to softly whimper and nibble her lower lip at the ache building between her thighs. Meliodas seems calm yet attentive as his hands slide up and down her back, the tips of his fingers skimming along her thighs tugging short whines from her throat with every careful pass. It only drives her further, makes her want to do more for him even if she doesn't necessarily know _how_. The last time they were unexpectedly thrust into this position, he'd taken care of both himself and her. She's desperate to do what she can for him now.

One hand trails from his hair and into the collar of his shirt so he can feel her nails scrape along his shoulder blades teasingly. He bucks into her with a sudden groan and her eyes flutter closed when the head of him strokes her clitoris in a heart palpitating way. A drawn-out mewl from her lips kindles the spark of impassioned kisses, languid thrusting of hips, and fingers curling needily into flesh as desperate, unrestrained noises begin to fill the room and mingle with their harsh breathing. Her spine bows as she strains to get closer. His lips find her proffered breasts through her gown idly sucking the protruding nipples until she gives a choked cry.

Hands palming her backside through her panties as he slides between her legs like a sweet torment, Elizabeth feels sweat dust her flushed skin and thoughts of how right Meliodas was about being completely different awake than asleep ring bright and true in her mind. Heart filling her chest so much she quakes, gasping for breath from the strain of it, she feels almost overwhelmed as he leans more over her filling the space between her legs with a rhythmic thrust that rocks her entire frame and drives her mind wild. She clings to his back, listening to his pants and guttural noises smelling their scents combining again and forces herself to remember her goal.

Pulling up against him, she places her mouth to his ear unable to help herself as she kisses along the shell and lobe. He gives a shuddering sound and his rhythm becomes a bit erratic causing her eyes to flutter. A trembling purr of his name is all she lets out of how coiled, burning, and _ready_ she feels, needing, coveting, _wanting_ any and everything of this demon. His past, his present, his future, his thoughts, his dreams, his hopes and his fears. She'll give him anything in return which is why she rolls him onto his back, slides out of his arms, down his body in a fluid motion and does what she hopes emulates the feel of the wet heat built up inside of her right now.

The bulbous head glides past her lips leaving a pungent flavor across her tongue as she creates a tight suction where she flicks and digs her tongue along the head and into the slit while her hands give unpracticed strokes to the rest of him. Her eyes peer intensely up his figure noting the tensing of his stomach, the rapid heave of his chest, and the clenching of his fists. His hair looks so wonderfully wild from her finger strokes, messy for once around his head as he peers down at her with pure black eyes for all of a second only for him to fall back into the bed with an arch of his own. The husky moan he awards her with flares her arousal painfully until she's shocked by the first thick gush of seed that fills her mouth. She's quick to begin swallowing, not wanting him to worry about messes, feeling herself dampen further as he begins to gently thrust past her swollen lips.

Only when he goes soft with pleased, breathy sounds does she let him slip from her mouth. Her tongue goes over her lips for a moment absorbing the potent masculinity of his taste with an aching whimper. She crawls to his side inwardly wound, but fulfilled, spreading her fingers through the strands of his hair, hoping to keep him doused in a cocktail of gratification and drowsiness so he'll effortlessly drift to sleep. It only takes a few minutes of the quiet that fills the room and even breaths for him to go boneless with a final murmur of her name upon his lips.

She gingerly pulls his pants up feeling a blush spike across her skin as she eyes him again. Then she grasps the blankets which had gathered at the foot of the bed, pulling it around them to ward away the cold. She settles against his side trembling a bit as she eases down from her coiled state feeling sleep edge closer. With a tiny smile, sleep finally claims her.

~.~.~

Elizabeth awakens with her toes pressed against warm legs, her head on a chest with several heartbeats, and a strong arm wound around her waist. Memories dance through her mind of the night before, bubbly and heated and so incredibly intense she has to bury her face in his chest to hide her blushing smile. She gasps after a beat remembering to make sure his clothes are perfectly arranged before settling down against him once more. Guilt tugs at her as she bites her lip, but she thinks it's best if he thinks what happened was a dream.

When he begins to stir at the feel of the sunlight falling across his eyes most likely, he shifts causing her heartbeat to pick up. His hand brushes a spot on her back and she yelps unexpectedly jolting him awake fully. "What's wrong?" His green eyes crisp first thing look over her face.

She blinks beginning to notice a strange sensation under her skin. "I don't know... I guess my back is sensitive." She eases each word out slowly, not really certain of them herself.

He brings his hands to her arms rubbing his thumbs along her skin soothingly. "Do you want me to take a look?"

She can tell he's flustered with the idea, but willing to look past that for her. It's the sweetest thing in her mind as she grins. "No thanks! I think it was just a passing thing. Or if you really want to look you can when I take a bath!" She suggests with a saccharine voice.

He splutters becoming redder by the second.

"Or even better, we can bathe together!" She gives an innocent, hopeful grin.

Meliodas finds his tongue, "Elizabeth!" He lets out a breath and shakes his head slowly easing away from her. When he's seated on the edge of the bed his brows furrow. "Did something happen between us last night...?" There's confusion and uncertainty there. Maybe even a bit of conflict.

She bites her tongue slightly. "Like what?"

He looks up then, the sunlight catching his eyes and making them practically glow. It feels as if he's peering into her soul and she shudders. "Nothing. Just a really vivid dream I guess. If Ban hasn't started breakfast yet, I will. Why don't you freshen up while that happens?"

She nods watching him leave. Her eyes squeeze closed and her lip is tormented between her teeth, feeling her fingers curl into the covers until they quiver.

"Wait."

He does, like she knows he always will for her. She can't find it within her to look up however. "It... wasn't a dream." She admits with a wobble to her voice. "I can't lie to you."

"Elizabeth..." There's quiet reproach there and she lifts her arms to wrap around her torso as a shield. Or perhaps to keep herself together.

"I did it again didn't I? Touched you without permission? This time I knew what I was doing. I k-knew what I wanted," she sniffs feeling her nose itch and her eyes burn. Elizabeth briefly lifts her head to find Meliodas standing at her side of the bed eyes fixed on her firmly. "I wanted to make you feel good. That's all that mattered. But now you... Y-you—" she cuts herself off with a shake of her head. There's no way he can trust her now. And they'd just admitted their love for one another.

He responds when two tears roll down her cheeks. "That's what the ropes are there for—to stop anything like that from happening."

"I'd been upset with you for the longest time because you overreacted with them. I hadn't wanted to touch you or you to touch me. I'd just wanted to talk to you that night," she wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand wishing her heart would stop aching so much. But the tears keep coming. "I guess you were right to use them though."

She gasps when his palm pushes her bangs upwards, effectively tilting her head up as he leans down to kiss her forward tenderly. "You're forgiven. Not that there's much to be angry with. I was sort of hoping it wasn't a dream to begin with," he confesses mesmerizing her with the depth of his gaze scant inches from hers. She practically swoons as his breath fans across her lips. "Besides, if you had any ill will towards me do you think I'd love you?" He abruptly shakes his head and palms her cheeks that gain a heavy flush at the smolder that darkens his eyes. "No I'd _still_ love you. No matter what, definitely, even if I died, I'd love you Elizabeth Liones."

She feels nearly faint from breathing so shallow, her heart pounding right against her ribs as she begins to shake. His eyes are all she can see and the truth of his words burning within them. She's embarrassed by the keening mewl she makes when he grabs her up against him, sealing their lips together passionately, so overcome by the fierce confidence radiating from him. Just when his tongue plunges past the seam of her lips a knock on the door jolts his senses and he pulls his lips away from her parted tingling ones.

"Captain, are you up yet?" comes King's hesitant question.

She sags to to the bed chest heaving, mind dazed as she gazes up into his rapidly paling visage. She'd expected to see the usual fluster there, but not... apology?

"Yeah, King. I'll be right there," He answers turning away from her and running a hand through his locks. "I'll come back with a load of breakfast for you, okay?" He tells her hurriedly before striding towards the door and out the room.

She stews in wonder over his reaction for a moment before deciding to climb out of bed. She has to get ready for the day too and as much as she's overjoyed with Meliodas' devotion to her, the twinges at her back are still a problem. Elizabeth picks up a tune she feels is inspired by the quirks of her Meliodas and begins to pull off her gown, letting it drop to the floor. Collecting a simple pair of pants and blouse she enters the washroom. She decides the first thing after setting her clothes down is to take a look at her back in the full length mirror.

The sunlight sprinkles across the floor through the window warming the room just enough so that when she turns and twists her body she can see odd white fuzz protruding from her back in four places. Her eyebrows crease tightly and she moves closer to the mirror, thinking she's imagining things. But getting closer only makes it startlingly clear to her that actual, downy feathers are sprouting from her back.

Elizabeth blinks. Then blinks some more. "Okay... so maybe I _shouldn't_ share a bath with Meliodas…"


	12. Chapter 12

**~11~**

Meliodas marches down the stairs, shoulders taut, mind whirling. He'd had an incredible night with Elizabeth—a part of which he'd thought was a lucid dream. Phantom touches, a warm body against his, and large heart fluttering eyes was what he'd fantasized about. It was too easy to fall into the passion of kissing and touching, the slow bliss of sliding his need between her legs to draw out those heated sounds from her trembling lips—he loves her after all. But when she took him into her mouth his dream had to be just that, a dream. His bubbly, loud, boisterous, full of life, pure angel couldn't suck her swollen lips around the head of him and stare him down with blue eyes dark with sinful pleasures.

It wasn't a dream.

And to make matters worse, after promising the night would be the only witness to his slip in resolve he found himself kissing Elizabeth in the light of day with a blaze usually well hidden under his skin. He ruffles his hair with anxious fingers. "What's happening with me?" He mutters harshly under his breath.

When he reaches the first floor he halts at the sight that merely puts him further on edge.

"49, 50. _There_." Diane's hand retracts from just inside the door and he can note her displeasure by the cross of her arms and the turn of her cheek.

Ban's lips stretch wide over his sharp teeth. "Payday's real sweet~ Don't feel bad, the Captain and Elizabeth are pretty happy by the sound of things last night. King even said he saw the two kissing like lovers this morning," he gives the fairy floating and clutching his pillow tightly between his arms a flat stare, "Like lovers, King? You're such a prude~"

The inevitable bickering breaks out between the three, but freezes over the moment Meliodas sets a foot forward.

King recoils first, face white as his pillow suffocates in the stranglehold he puts upon it at seeing the dark shadow blond locks cast across Meliodas' visage. "C-C-Captain! I went up there for a-another as we- _ahh_!"

Meliodas plucks the fairy from the air by his ear and hurtles him out the door screaming into a shocked Diane's cleavage. Her hands wave about as she squeaks, "CAPTAIN! K-King? Are you... _Is that blood_!?"

Ban's contorted with laughter until a darkness crawls across his form spluttering his mirth.

"Give the money back," is the only warning Meliodas gives, the words scraping low in his throat.

Ban straightens and looks down at him with a lazy posture. His eyes are weighted stones that judge cruelly however. "I can see your still stuck on that stupid idea of yours even now. So what's it going to take?" The bag of coins is tossed out the door where Diane coddles a nose bleeding King in her palms.

Meliodas strides around the bar ignoring the barb. "Since you haven't started on breakfast, I will." The door to the kitchen bangs behind him and he stands there for a moment truly rattled on the inside like something's jittering beneath his skin. He stretches his arms out and looks at his fingers curling and relaxing them as he tries to understand. "Something's off..." He's never that... vicious, except lately in battle which can be explained away with him fighting at Elizabeth's defense. But this feels like more of a slipping inside.

Methodically he gathers various ingredients, pots and pans necessary for making a big breakfast while trying to think of when the feeling first stirred. He's setting a pan on a burner when he thinks of yesterday alone in their room when the memories flooded like a dam had burst. Liz's cheeks puffed out in anger as they'd argued, her face bright red from laughter as he'd tickled her, her features twisted in pure rapture as she'd arched into his thrusts. Liz had been as fiery as the short magenta hair around her head, far from the innocent Elizabeth he knows now. And yet that's what sours on his tongue, causes his hand to shake, makes him spit out a violent curse when he burns his skin on the fire burning beneath the pan.

Liz is short for Elizabeth. They could've been twins with Liz looking only a couple years older.

"There's no way they're connected. They can't be," he hisses clenching his smarting fist as that feeling that formed in the desolate corners of his mind like a ghost sluggishly gains life.

"Captain, you all right, back here?" Ban walks in hands deep in his pockets.

Meliodas looks down and _breathes_. "Yeah I'm fine... Just a damn burn," he tries to smile up at his towering friend but he sees a look in those crimson eyes that stops him cold. He'd forgotten about the incident in Veizel, about going berserk in front of him. There's no way Ban doesn't suspect the demon blood within him. And with the way he's been acting all morning...

Ban shifts then tilts his head and drags a finger down the only scar of jagged claw marks that mars his body. "Remember when you gave me this Captain?"

Meliodas' jaw tenses, the memory almost too fresh now with everything that's come to light. "Yeah..."

"I wanted to know why you were given the label of Dragon's Sin of Wrath. You were too kind, too strict, too skittish to possibly have such a Sin, but I got a bit greedy and wanted to know."

Meliodas swallows remembering that night, the scent of smoke in his nose from the fire, the sound of the snores as the others slept on while Ban slowly provoked him...

Ban's eyes gleam in the window as he recalls too. "You wouldn't budge, so I started throwing out guesses, getting increasingly darker just to see what could get you to react. You finally lost it, slashed me with nothing but your hand and black flames... when I asked if you'd murdered your girlfriend."

Meliodas steels himself against the onslaught that demands he react that he didn't understand back then and states clipped, "That's when I made The Seven Deadly Sins law number three, which still holds."

Ban waves his words off. "I'm not asking about your Sin, I'm just saying that... you feel just like you did then. Unsteady, on edge. Like you might just snap on someone who can't come back from the dead," Ban grins wide while placing a large hand that swallows Meliodas' shoulder. "I'm just worried about you, Captain."

Meliodas relaxes marginally. "Yeah, thanks."

Ban puts his hands back in his pockets and turns to depart the kitchen with a warning over his shoulder, "Your oatmeal's starting to burn."

Meliodas jumps and dashes to the burners, hands flitting about to correct the situation, while his mind lingers on the mass of heavy thoughts.

 _'I'm worried too_...'

~.~.~

King had finally gained the courage to inform Meliodas of the rumors he'd heard of The Seven Deadly Sins being in the town of Ordan. So that's where they search through now. King and Ban are speaking with the townspeople for anything on their own while Diane stays and watches the Avallo—separate from King. This is their punishment for pissing him off before. He'd done well to ignore their complaints and head into town to stock up on stores of water for the Avallo. With more people staying there he now has to do so with more frequency and, as a bonus for the day, make sure all the mechanisms within the Avallo are in working order.

Elizabeth is tagging along with him.

In the time it'd taken to get to Ordan, Meliodas had noticed Elizabeth become slightly withdrawn into her own thoughts which had surprised him. He'd expected her to jump on the chance of trying to deepen their relationship further after that night, but instead she'd seemed preoccupied with something else that appeared to be weighing her mind. And with the bar opening up again he'd seen for the first time what it was like for his best waitress to slip and stubble, to screw up orders and apologize profusely. The customers didn't mind her bumbling accidents, she's too sweet to stay angry with. Though there were some who were much to handsy in their aid earning them glares the likes of which left their souls feeling as if death itself had visited them.

She hadn't been avoiding him exactly, but she hasn't really tried to close the small gap between them either.

Not until she volunteered to accompany him that is.

"The Holy Knights don't seem to have much of an influence here," her eyes crinkle at the edges with her grin enhancing the spring in her step significantly.

He nearly runs into a gaggle of men having to stutter out an apology in his momentary distraction by her natural radiance. He clears his throat into his fist lowering his eyebrows to try and appear less affected as possible despite his raging flush. "We don't necessarily know what's going on here just yet, so be cautious."

She spins on the tip of her foot to face him abruptly causing him to stop jerkily a few inches or so away from her. Her blouse is flowing today, close to her neckline but loose around her arms and torso with a skirt that reaches her calves and boots that hug up to her knees. She looks down at him with round thoughtful eyes and chirps silvery, "Okay!"

With the erratic thuds of his hearts and his thoughts dazed by the perfume of her scent he momentarily forgets what they were speaking of and blurts a bit impassioned, "Have I told you how beautiful you are today?"

People walk around them, various voices and sounds and smells as the world carries on. But all Meliodas can see is how the sun shines on Elizabeth's features as she starts to do that thing—her fingers weaving around locks of silver, winding and unwinding his favorite nervous habit of hers—that truly makes her the most precious being in the world. "No... Thank you," her voice is quiet, her smile as sweet as honey while she blushes.

His palms become clammy and he tightens the one around the wagon necessary to carry the barrels of water he'll need, but he feels so good having told her such a simple truth that he does it again without pause, "Then I need to do it more often. There's not a day that goes by when you're not a gorgeous rose."

Both flushing the color of one, she moves to his side as they stride comfortably towards the vendor of his destination. "Even if I'm covered in dirt?" She asks in a tone clearly full of doubt.

He laughs thinking of that first day he saw her. "Even then."

She hooks her arm in his right using her other to trace the hidden dragon there as her tone becomes fond, "Even if I'm sick or covered in bandages?"

He breathes deeply against the twinge in his chest. "Yes. Always."

Before his next breath her arm is wrapped around his shoulders, a hand woven in his hair with her head resting tenderly atop his. "I didn't know it was possibly to fall so deeply in love... Until meeting you, Meliodas," she sighs euphoric, squeezing him just a bit closer.

His breathing stops completely as his eyes widely stare ahead. His face is nestled right into her cleavage and even though he feels frozen from shock, unable to breathe or think or even move, there's a warmth that blossoms within his chest that spreads outwards in gentle soothing waves. His shuddering nerves quiet as he melts feeling utterly loved when he doesn't deserve it, he doesn't deserve her. He presses closer anyway taking as much as he can while it's still there, knowing in some way it'll all disappear in one way or another.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she pulls away, taking his quivering hand in her steady one without batting an eye, "I'm wasting our time aren't I? That's the place you need to be don't you?" She points to a place where a graying man is handing out barrels of water in exchange for coins.

He lets her lead him instead of voicing the obvious, that she'd never be a waste of his time.

Haggling with the vendor brings him down from his fluster. It's something he can do with a straight face, efficiency, and just the right amount of skill that flows from him effortlessly. At this time he can also see that something holds Elizabeth's attention far more than him bargaining prices. Discreetly he places a hand at the base of her spine and pushes her gently to the side. Her eyebrows shoot up and he gives her a lopsided grin that conveys he'll be watching her.

He doesn't have to worry too much. Elizabeth only goes over to the next stall over that sells swords oddly enough. He's sucked into conversation once more and by the time he purchases eleven barrels for half the original price he spies Elizabeth chatting with King who squeaks at seeing him and flies off clutching something between himself and his pillow before Meliodas can ask. Carrying one barrel over his shoulder he raises an eyebrow at Elizabeth who fidgets with there hem of her shirt. "What was that about?"

She hums swiveling her gaze away from his. "He was just looking for clues in this area and I said hi! I guess he's still nervous about whatever happened between you two."

Meliodas lowers his brows. "... Right. Well let's get this stocked then help out with the search okay?"

She jumps to his side as a cool breeze picks up. "Yeah!"

~.~.~

"Whoa... This was here the entire time!?" Elizabeth vibrates like a kid with too much sugar, grinning too wide as he lifts a hatch in the floor of the kitchen.

He hesitates, rethinking if it's really a smart idea to bring her down into the interior of the Avallo. But then she looks up at him from her kneeled position eyes sparkling like stars and he brushes the feeling off. "Yep! You go on down first. I'll be right behind you." He assures and she squeals hurrying down with ruckus thuds first.

Two barrels weigh slightly over his shoulders as he takes the stairs down. The light from above becomes eaten away by the darkness lurking below. He's gone down there so many times he's forgotten how dark it can be and worries Elizabeth might've lost her enthusiasm in her fear of the darkness. But at the foot of the stairs he finds her waiting patiently, breathing calm as eager as ever. He sits the barrels of sloshing water down with soft thuds that echo against the stones, then walks over to the wall by memory where he knows a torch to be. "You're not afraid?" He strikes a rock against the rough stone with practiced ease and orange flares to life across a fair distance shedding light to the yawning hall filled with numerous doors ahead.

Elizabeth steps forward shaking her head. "I had to go through the secret tunnels in Liones castle to escape on my own."

He nods slowly unsettled by this. "Let me get the rest. Don't go into any of the doors... Some of the rooms are in ruin."

He only goes back up with her confirmation. With each trip he sees the area gain more light as Elizabeth brings the torch around lighting the mounted sticks on fire. When she notices him all assembled she wanders back to his side eyes full of questions. "Why does this place remind me of a castle?"she whispers a bit awestruck.

He lifts a barrel, grabs the wagon handle, and leads them to a door not far ahead. "Because I built this from the remains of one." Elizabeth handles the brass knob which opens up to a room stuffed with metal of all sorts, pipes thin and thick, crooked and ramrod straight. Meliodas swiftly walks towards the tub in the center where water rests at the very bottom.

Elizabeth talks over the sounds of filling water, "This place is amazing! Where did you learn how to create things like this?" Her fingers curl over the rim as the air becomes more moist.

His fingers peel her warm fingers away from the cool iron and tugs her from the room once every barrel is emptied, thinking of time long past. "I'm not sure. I always enjoyed figuring things out, piecing things together, understanding how they ticked. That's essential when you fight any enemy," he shakes his thoughts of the fog of his past and pushes open the door to another room. "I suppose that mindset found its way into crafting things like this."

The fire from the torch Elizabeth carries illuminates the various openings in the walls where metal intertwines in slots embedded in the stone. The peaks juts inwards exposing the inner coilings that make up the legs that carry the Avallo. Meliodas walks towards a specific leg when Elizabeth lets out a slow breath. He smiles softly watching the way she wanders around his creations, looking at it from every angle before extending her dainty finger outward to begin poking.

"Be careful. You don't want to get your finger caught anywhere," he warns before his eyebrows crease and he notices a bit of crumbling in the inner tubing of the leg he's inspecting. "I knew the Avallo felt a bit unstable..." He mutters.

A soft bosom presses into his back as Elizabeth leans over his shoulder, hand curled there for balance and hair falling against his chest. "What's wrong?"

He inhales her scent sluggishly trying to remember after a moment. "...I need to replace a pretty rare piece that keeps these legs together," his words sound tight in his ears.

She leans a bit closer, further speeding his hearts, before jumping back with excitement dancing on her tongue, "The doohickey!" He doesn't have a chance to question what that means before she's scrambling towards the door, "I'll be right back!"

And then he's left alone to blink after her.

She does return as promised, panting, hair slightly disheveled, but face split in that smile that turns his insides into mushy goo. The flames of her torch nearly trail behind her in her rush to get to him. She outstretches her palm with a flourish, offering him her prize. Meliodas eyes what's in her palm and nearly loses his breath in shock. His hands snatch hers up cradling it between them as a wild grin breaks out over his face, "This is exactly what I need!" He can't imagine how she came across it. It'd taken him years to find the unique metal the first time that he'd honestly considered trying to make it himself. He loops an arm around her back pulling her close, "I could just kiss you!"

In the bright flames he catches the receding of blood in her face and the almost brutal way her lip becomes gripped between her teeth. He immediately pulls back curling his fingers around her shaking ones. "What's wrong?" His stomach knots and rolls sickeningly as he runs over the multitude of possibilities, the first being his offer to kiss her which was wrong of him to say in such a moment. But from the looks of it, she's in physical pain more than anything.

She lets her lip go and breathes haltingly. Her eyes appear a bit glazed as she shakes her head. "No, Meliodas... I'm fine... Really, just fix your amazing creation... I did tell you it was amazing before, right?" She giggles, but it's light as air brushing worry along his flesh.

"Elizabeth, something's wrong. You've been keeping something from me... Let me help you," he lifts a palm to cup her cheek only for his breath to hitch at the heat that licks at his flesh. She's stifling. How could he not notice!? His palm moves across her skin up to her forehead greedily seeking the source of her troubles. "You're burning up," his tone is almost sharp in urgency.

She blinks and her eyes stay closed for a while too long. "Am I?" That laugh again and it only makes him bite his tongue feeling concern drop into his blood like an liquids flames pushing him to move.

"Come on, we're getting you to bed this instant—" A sound threatens to impede his efforts, rumbling through the stone walls, sinking like biting winds desperate to shake apart his very core as it scrapes at his ears. "What... was that?"

Elizabeth merely squeezes his hand and he has to make a decision that truly pains him. Swiftly he pockets her gift to him and moves to scoop her up into his arms except she moves away with a shake of her head drawing him up short. Again what he'd been thinking from before comes to mind. She's keeping a certain distance from him, pulling away... and the realization burns like black magic tearing him apart piece by excruciating piece. A distance is good, he knows, but it doesn't hurt any less.

"I can make it to bed on my own... I know that's where you're going to put me," her eyes are kind and understanding with a smidgen of exhaustion around the edges. "Besides, I'm sure King and Ban need your help with whatever that sound was."

He stands there for a moment then gives in with a nod. "All right. But get into something comfortable and I'm leaving Diane here to watch over you." He leans up to kiss her burning forehead feeling crackling just under her skin oddly enough. "I'll come back, hopefully with another Sin for you to meet." A tug in his belly wants him to linger, but ultimately another aggressive roar gets him moving.

~.~.~

Elizabeth lies under the covers in only her panties. She was told to get into something comfortable and right now that's it. The loose blouse had been almost too much for her back, but when Meliodas' hand had touched her there something had burst like a long awaited explosion except her body simply doesn't know how to contain it just yet. _'Am I sick?'_ Her mind groggily wonders as the ceiling comes in and out of focus. She doesn't think so. It must have something to do with the feathers.

Elizabeth turns her face into the comforting scent of his pillow and moans piteously.

She'd tried to pluck them that first day. But when that had proved excruciating let alone impossible, she'd simply let them be all while wondering why they could be there. The first thought was that maybe she was half fairy. She didn't know her mama, who'd died when Elizabeth was too young to remember her, so maybe that was her mama's race? King doesn't have wings though and she'd been too worried to bring it up to him thinking he'd inform Meliodas.

It's not that she doesn't want to tell Meliodas herself—he told her he was a demon, something he's keeping from everyone else—she knows he wouldn't judge her strange development. It's just that she has an odd feeling about them and wants to keep them to herself until she can figure it out.

But as the days past more downy feathers grew in around four specific places and the skin within each barrier of sorts became almost translucent. It's taken quite a lot not to react to the changes around everyone—especially Meliodas. But she's managed... at the cost of hurting him.

She's noticed the pain spider web across his eyes every time she's backed away from his touch. She bites her lip now feeling her heart become heavy just thinking about it. She'd never hurt him if she didn't think what was happening with her might affect him in ways she can quite understand.

"I'm sorry you're feeling so bad, Elizabeth," Diane peeks into the room blocking out the gloomy light momentarily. "I wish I could do something to help you feel better."

Elizabeth looks up at her from her place beneath the covers shuddering as lava seems to roll into every inch of her having the feel of sinking into her bones before settling with her exhale. It leaves a good kind of pain for the first time and she notices her vision sharpening. "I'm sure I'll be better soon, Diane. I've never fallen ill before so I'm sure whatever this is will pass."

Diane pulls back allowing more light into the room as her eyes widen drastically. "Really? That's amazing for a human, right? Well, I hope you kick this thing's ass soon, Elizabeth!" She winks before laughing.

Elizabeth feels another wave of heat settle more pleasantly and breathes out a laugh, "Thanks, Diane!" The giantess' enthusiasm is one of her favorite features of her friend.

"So what was with that sword you had King bring here earlier?" Diane leans her chin in her palm.

Steam seems to flood out of her as a cooling well of strength bolsters throughout, dropping her eyelids blissfully for a moment. The sword. She'd lied to Meliodas about what she had King do for her earlier—only because it's a surprise for the bar owner. Elizabeth had gone to the sword vendor out of pure curiosity, but she'd spotted one that latched onto a place within her and tugged, almost hypnotizing her into taking a closer look. The scabbard was pure white with gold, slightly raised petals that reminded her of the ones on Meliodas sword decorating the entire surface. The base of the handle was a pretty light green with ridges to grip it securely and a crystal orb at the top to finish it off with a flare. It's resting under the bed at that very moment as a silent comfort.

"It's a special gift for Meliodas,"she answers only to jump at a thumping on the door from downstairs. She focuses on Diane who's gazing down in shock at someone speaking to her. Amethyst eyes land on her. "It's the old man from the fight festival. Should I send him away?"

 _'Old man? Cain...'_ Elizabeth sits up blanket secure over her bust and shakes her head. "No I'm feeling much better actually! I can take a customer!" _'If that's what he's here for...'_ Her chest constricts and her eyes dim a bit.

"All right, Elizabeth," Diane agrees and Elizabeth slides out of bed no longer in the watchful gaze of her friend and begins to dress in her tight uniform. She expect it to spike pain along her flesh, but instead she feels as normal as ever—except with feathers. She takes the change with a smile hoping down the stairs, though she slows when sure approaches the front door. Her palm hooks around the handle, she takes a long deep breath, and opens the door.

He stands exactly as she last remembered him lower body concealed in a cloak, gray hair and lengthy goatee as his eyes peer over her with open curiosity.

Her shoulders tense. "Hello, Sir Cain. I'm Elizabeth and I'd... really like to apologize for my behavior at the festival."

Cain smiles and shakes his head. "You really are a spitting image of Liz, but you're not her. You're the Princess of Liones are you not?"

Elizabeth lurches arms drawn inwards as her eyes glance this way and that. "How did you know?" She leans over and whispers astonished.

Cain chortles a full bodied motion. "You can't pass one over on this one!" Calming some he raises a hand and pats her head like a grandpa would and her cheeks flush. "There's no need to apologize. You care about that boy and are willing to fight for him. To me that's honorable."

Her cheeks continue to darken as she looks down.

"Now is this place open? No where else is..."

Elizabeth steps out of his way and hurries around the bar in waitress mode. "Would you like tea, or coffee, or..."

He sits at a stool as his smile softens the lines in his face. "Ale's fine."

She gets a mug of the best for him and waves off his money. He laughs kindly at this. "I can't believe I found you all. I thought for sure Meliodas had died when that mountain fell on Veizel. And yet here he is making a Princess work for him."

She wipes the bar with a rag to give her hands something to do. "I don't mind really. Being with him has been an adventure of a lifetime! And it's not even over yet!" She hangs her head to hide her hopeful grin, "I don't want it to be over."

She sees the mug leave the bar for a moment. "Youth and their romance is always so precious. You remind me of..."

She looks up then with understanding blossoming across her visage. "I know about Liz. Well I know that she was Meliodas' lover and that she was taken prisoner before he spared her. But... What was she like?"

Cain settles his mug down and seems to slip into a fonder time. "Liz was very headstrong and always one to speak her mind that's how she and Meliodas wound up in a lot of arguments. She accused him of being a stupid simpleton for his ways. But to begin with she had this charming aura that made everyone open up to her and gradually she became drawn to Meliodas."

Elizabeth abandons the towel and instead traces the bar with her fingertip imagining Meliodas' jawline when he smiles sunlight over her being. "A stupid simpleton? Meliodas is just really kind." She argues with a quiet fierceness that colors her cheeks.

She looks up only to see Cain gazing at her knowingly. "You know why Meliodas never carries a sword?" This has come to her attention. She knows he has one, but it's devastating in power. He doesn't have any others as far as she knows. "He's too strong. No one who's ever fought him seriously using swords has come out unscathed... He understands that, so that's why he won't use a sword. Yes, and on top of that, he's too kind for his own good." Cain sticks a hand into his cloak causing a clinking of heavy metal against one another.

A sword and scabbard of blues, gold, slivers, and deep red are sat on the bar before her.

She may as well have been bludgeoned in the skull as her eyes dilate and her mind is cracked open, flooded by memories.

The sickening panic of having to rush to find Meliodas after Cain was attacked by a werewolf. Having a sword made in the hopes that Meliodas would fight to live. Sitting on hills so green the sun makes them glow with Meliodas' hand in hers. That first stolen kiss in front of the fire. Her back arching against the wood of a house as they desperately try to keep quiet. Elizabeth's heart begins to convulse as she's assaulted by more and _more_.

Another time peering at him over potted flowers. Another dancing with him in a field dress in animal hide. A time when she lived at sea and they traveled by the wind. When she was small and he held her on his lap offering her a plum. They continue to come tightening her fingers against the would, pounding her blood through her veins as she struggles to breathe. They fill the places in her mind she hasn't realized she was missing until at last she remembers the very first.

She'd tackled him to the ground sword to his throat, taking him by surprise more than anything, and their eyes had met. Blue melding into black and nothing was the same after that. Nothing could ever be.

"Princess?"

She trembles realizing only a few seconds have past when to her she'd just lived 106 lifetimes. She glances up appearing a bit bedraggled. "Yes, I'm fine. This is... a lovely sword." Her hands are strategically placed on the bar to keep her up. Looking at Cain is so different now to her weary mind. She's happy to know that he's lived beyond the destruction of Danafor.

He looks over her face for a while before explaining, "It was a gift for Meliodas from Liz... But he didn't accept this gift. And so I've been holding onto it... all this time." He lifts his ale to his mouth wearily.

Another roar rumbles through the air, shattering the peace and carrying trouble on the wind.

"What's this incredible power!?" Cain shoots up from his stool and looks around wildly. "Stay here, Princess, while I go take a look!" He commands running out into gloom that's only thickened outside.

Elizabeth stands in the stillness that follows, limbs trembling and eyes fixed on the sword she once tried to give Meliodas. She remembers it all. How they ended up at that point in their lives and _why_. A chocked noise is squeezed behind her hand as she lets herself break if only for a moment. "Oh goddesses, he can't remember. He can't." She sniffles into her palm. But he's already remembered Liz. What if he gains more and recalls it all? She clutches the sword to her chest. "He can't see this then. I bought him a sword as a gift. Maybe that won't trigger anything further if I bring it to him..." She preys squeezing her eyes shut for a moment before dashing up the steps.

While trading the swords has, Elizabeth assesses herself and realizes she's feels the closest like her original self before regaining her memories —at least the person she became after her mother insisted she stay I'm the Celestial Realm after discovering Elizabeth's discretion with the Demon Prince. She runs from the Avallo ignoring Cain and Diane's concerned cries as a thought occurs, _'Maybe that's the reason for the feathers_?' But no. She's born human. She's always born human, so there should be no reason why she would get her wings back. And yet that seems to be the case.

Limbs surprisingly limber as she leaps over fallen trees and travels distances at speeds that forces the weight of the earth in the wind to impact her face and course through her hair, Elizabeth feels as if her body is ablaze in a familiar strength she can no longer control. When she reaches a ledge she nearly careens over it giving a distressed squeal that draws every eye in the area to her presence. Only one set really matters though. Her breath stutters for a moment seeing him, truly seeing the man that's loved her with his entire being time and time again. And Elizabeth knows her eyes wet with emotion feeling the depth of her love for him go beyond any realm of understanding. She'd do anything for him. That's why she must be the one to save them this time.

"Meliodas, I have something for you! I want you to be able to fight and live!" She goes to throw the sword but her eyes catch sight of the ghastly monster with several arms and a human embedded with its torso preparing an attack.

Her muscles bunch and she propels off the ledge into a graceful spin.

The blade sings through the air as a cold burn surges up within her. " _Tranquilize_!" An arc of light slams into the beast provoking drawn out roars before its body disintegrates leaving a man's figure to finally find its peace. Elizabeth blinks descending through the air at the instinctual move awaiting the floaty feel that usually follows.

The ground keeps rushing towards her. She has no wings.

A pitched scream fills her throat until a body collides with hers, taking her from the air. "Did you think I would really let you fall?" His voice chides lightly in her ear reassuring her immensely as they hit the ground.

"What was that, princess?" Ban stuffs his hands in his pockets and looks at her at Meliodas' side.

She can tell they all want to know, King's serious ambers, Meliodas' studying gaze, and even the strange new male with bright pink hair and eyes a piercing gold. She fiddles with the sheathed sword. "I don't know... I was feeling off earlier and now I feel... stronger." That's a way to describe it.

Meliodas' hand curls over her arm and she'd think it was an innocent gesture had she not felt his magic seep into her like icy wisps and brush against the magic curled right near her heart. She visibly trembles and he reacts smoothing his thumb in circles as if to apologize—as if there's any reason to. "It's like... Druid magic." If she hadn't known him so long she wouldn't have paid mind to the hesitation. Even before her returned memories she might've suspected something but not been able to explain it.

The power of the Druids is one of his guesses, but he most definitely has another he doesn't want to mention.

"Damn... We've got a healer on our hands," Ban grins as if his prey is in his clutches.

King tilts his head eyeing her closely. "The hair... and the power... She may certainly become quite powerful."

The one with pink hair steps forward and states evenly, "She is indeed quite powerful with quite the potential."

Meliodas crosses his arms as his eyebrows raise a bit. "That's right. I haven't introduced you two yet. This is Gowther, Goat's Sin of Lust."

Elizabeth raises her hand and smiles though it feels plastic stretched across her face. She knows the name Gowther. He was apart of the group of demons Meliodas lead in the war three millennia ago, The Ten Commandments. What is he doing apart of the Sins and will he trigger Meliodas' memories?

"Hello! I'm Elizabeth! It's nice to meet you."

Gowther adjusts his glasses his only response to her introduction.

"So who do you think's behind the corruption of the Holy Knights?" King hovers closer to the corpse on the ground.

Gowther strides over towards it as Ban offers, "Grand Master Dreyfus or..." Gowther then spears a light through something Ban yanks from the prone man's chest. "Hendrickson."

Elizabeth eyebrows lower as her hands tighten around the sword. _Hendrickson_. He's trying to resurrect the demons. He already has one of the keys and she's the other. Clearly he wants her wings and something's causing them to grow back... Well, all she has to do is make sure that doesn't happen on top of keeping Meliodas' memories from him. That should be easy, right?

She glances over spying him watching her closely. Her instinct is to send him an adoring smile he flusters immediately under which assuages her worries, reassuring her that she can succeed.


	13. Chapter 13

**~12~**

Elizabeth's legs swing back and forth gently as he carries her back to the Avallo, her weight in his arms being a nice calming tether that she seems to notice that he needs. Her appearance at the battle was a true heart stopper, but her flourish through the air and display of newfound power was what caused his thoughts to come to a screeching halt then tumble together in a storm.

They haven't ceased since.

He watches her from the corner of his eye as the others move on ahead voicing ideas of eating outside that evening as the weather is nice and mild. She looks the same as ever, curious eyes latched onto the sword she purchased as a gift to him—a gesture that still both warms and tightens his chest urging him to kiss her temple lightly as a silent thanks. She feels the same too only now he realizes what he'd noticed all along as it courses on the surface instead of surging in brief peaks. Elizabeth was the reason he didn't die to Gilthunder's attack, she was the reason Dr. Dana survived too. She was the reason he was able to pull himself up and defend her against Veronica. Elizabeth healed miraculously without any scars time and time again because she's a Druid... or perhaps she's something more.

Meliodas recalls the shiver of reverence that washed over him nearly taking his knees out from under him as he'd watched her soar through the sky and when he'd felt her power for himself, touched it with his own... All he can think of are the goddesses. Maybe she's an Apostle.

Fingers curl into the lock of hair fallen in front of his ear and his eyes regain clarity. "Meliodas? We're here."

He looks around to see that the Avallo's in place with the Sins setting up tables in front of it. Elizabeth slips out of his arms then turns to face him and present the sword with set features like a princess awarding an honor.

He chuckles taking the new weight in his hands then turns firm eyes in her direction. "Thank you, again. I won't hold back anymore. I'll use this blade with you in mind, fighting with the resolve we made together, okay?"

She goes a bit pink in the cheeks bringing her hands together as her eyes soften happily. "Okay!"

Just over her shoulder he spots a familiar face approaching he hadn't expected to see so soon again. Elizabeth must sense him too because she turns around and waves at Cain before dashing towards the Avallo, shortly following Ban inside. Meliodas stares then shakes his head. ' _Unpredictable as always_.'

"Meliodas, it's good to see you before leaving," Cain greets with a kind grin.

Meliodas puts a fist on his hip as his eyebrows shoot up, "You're leaving already? Are you sure you can't stay for a drink?"

Cain waves him off with a laugh, "It's best I get going. It was nice seeing someone from the old days and talking to that sweet girl of yours before."

Meliodas presses his lips together and looks away, but it doesn't help. He can feel his skin tingling deeply with a flush.

"Say Meliodas? You're not projecting Liz onto the Princess are you?"

The sudden question causes a bolt of astonishment to thunder through him as he stares blankly at Cain. He hadn't even recalled Liz when he met Elizabeth, there's no way that could be the case especially with how different the two are.

Cain shakes his head and begins to walk around Meliodas, "No it's nothing... Well I hope we meet again!"

Meliodas turns to watch him go. "Yeah take care of yourself, Barzad!"

 _'Projecting Liz on Elizabeth_?' He turns the thought away and wanders towards the clustered Sins noticing two people missing. This causes only a sole twitch in his eyebrow before he nods at Gowther. "So have you decided whether you're going to lend your strength to Elizabeth to save the Kingdom?"

Gowther stands perfectly straight and gives the most enthusiastic response his flat tone can provide, "I will. I was appointed as a member of The Seven Deadly Sins by the King of Liones. Therefore, I have no reason to refuse a request by the Princess, his daughter."

"All right!" Diane raises a fist to the air as she squeals.

Meliodas slides his gaze over the three present with a growing smirk, "I say we should get drunk to celebrate," his voice is low making it almost sound like a mischievous idea.

King floats a bit straighter, "Captain, you drunk? I don't think that's ever happened before..."

Meliodas slips his free hand into his pocket, "Hey, I can be carefree when I want to." Plus a little drinking might help him take his mind off of things. "Say where's Ban and Elizabeth?" The twinge at the back of his mind has finally pushed him to voice their disappearance.

Diane shrugs playing with the ends of her ponytail. "I don't know. Elizabeth asked him something and he seemed fine with agreeing as they went inside. That was hmm..."

"Approximately half an hour ago." Gowther inserts matter of factly gold eyes locked on Meliodas.

Meliodas tenses from head to toe. _'Half an hour? That's more than enough time to— You're jumping to conclusions. She's just... Unpredictable_.' Feeling as if something's passing through his insides razor shape yet painfully slow Meliodas gives a tight smile, "I'll just go check on them."

"The Captain's breathing has accelerated and his muscles have tensed. Are these signs of jealousy?" Gowther tilts his head a bit and Diane and King jolt looking panicked.

Meliodas ignores them and thrusts the front door open, expecting to hear the dreaded sounds that would send his hearts plummeting. Perhaps Ban grew an interest in Elizabeth that he hadn't noticed? Maybe the undead man took the chance Meliodas squandered and Elizabeth was too naive to deny? Instead of hearing sounds of debauchery, he finds both of their energies joined in the kitchen.

Meliodas enters with force catching Ban's palm atop of silver locks. Heat stomps down his throat and he reacts.

His sword is resheathed in less than a blink with Ban's hand twitching on the floor.

Elizabeth makes a high noise of shock in the back of her throat though is shielded by any splatters of blood as he stands before her.

"Damn it, Meliodas," Ban snaps reaching down to grab his hand and let it heal in place, "What the hell was that for!?"

Meliodas' eyes are hard as he feels shadows slither under his skin cold and vicious. "Making moves on your Princess while no one is guarding her?"

Ban's crimson eyes narrow as he angrily turns towards the burners where food cooks, something Meliodas hadn't noticed before. "You have some serious issues, man. Let the Princess straighten them out," he stirs the food a bit grumbling harshly, "If this had gotten blood in it..."

Meliodas breathes over and over trying to calm the ice sliding through his veins. Is it true? Could he really have overreacted? Fingers curl to the shape of his shoulders and he shudders, noticing her abruptly at such a heightened state.

"Meliodas, Ban was only helping me cook something. Well, it was going to be a surprise but —" Elizabeth yelps interrupting her honeyed tone as he whirls. He grabs her right above her hips to slide her body along his so it's effortless to lean up and claim her succulent mouth.

A surprise? Who would he be to ruin that when instead he can kissing her until he no longer has air in his lungs and even after? Her hands clutch at his cheeks as he assaults her lips intoxicated by how wildly the jasmine hits his nose while he desperately plunges his tongue past her swelling lips to take in that tempting raspberry. The sword clatters to the floor unnoticed as she moans shakily and whimpers high and halting. His hands smooth down the delicious curve, gripping handfuls tightly as he holds her closer driven by twisting heat, scents, sounds, her...

Ban drawls annoyed, "Am I going to have to watch you both rut on the floor, too?"

Meliodas pulls back with a loud rasping breath meeting Elizabeth's hooded eyes bloomed with innocent interest, "Will you show me what rutting is... upstairs?"

His throat scorches and his eyes darken, "Yeah..." The growled tone snaps him into focus and he leaps away with wide eyes and waving arms, "I mean _no_! I'll, uh, leave you to your surprise!" He watches her flick her tongue across her lips, cheeks flushed from the kiss while gazing solely at him and he inwardly groans.

Snatching up his sword he leaves a bit stiffly.

~.~.~

Elizabeth lifts a hand to cover her giggles while watching him go. "He's so cute..." She sighs dreamily.

A clinking of silverware in pans and then Ban voices, "You're really hoping this meal will help you get in his pants, huh?"

Elizabeth blinks and stares at Ban with a furrow to her brow. "I don't think I'd really fit into his pants though..."

"Uh," Ban's expression blanks before he breaks out into belly deep laughs. "You know you remind me of someone who was as clueless as you on human customs, except you actually grew up among us."

Elizabeth pouts albeit playfully.

"... You really love the Captain?"

Elizabeth's head jerks upwards at the unexpected question meeting red briefly before she hurries over to one of the pans to lower into the oven. "Of course I do!" She declares proudly.

Ban lifts a crooked smile and whistles. "Most girls seem ashamed to say that out loud."

Elizabeth closes the oven and notices a sting wind through her heart at those words. "Why would I be ashamed of my love for Meliodas? _That love gives me strength_. I have family I love in Liones and here," she pauses to grin at Ban, "And I'll use that love to fight and save everyone."

A smile spreads over his face. "You're all right, Elizabeth. You're all right..."

~.~.~

Meliodas lifts a mug of ale to his lips while giving the wooden table he sits at a surly glare. The others congregate around the other table drinking the ale he brought out after the debacle in the kitchen.

They've done well not to question him on it.

"I can't believe I assumed..." Another tankard of ale goes down to warm in his belly and pop in his veins, but it's not enough. How much will be, he wonders with a slightly protruding lower lip. Grabbing up another mug Meliodas feels Ban pass behind him and the trail of savory scents waft through the air. The others exclaim as the undead man makes trips back and forth to provide all the food they'll need.

Then Meliodas gives a startled cry nearly dropping his mug when he jolts in his seat at Elizabeth appearing behind him, placing his meal right in front of him. Her voice fills with mirth ringing in his ears as she wraps her arms slowly around him. "Your hearts are beating so fast," her words blow right against his ear warmly and they stutter.

"Elizabeth..." He reprimands though his voice comes out weak from the mix of fright and daze.

She seems to understand pulling away after tucking his hair behind his ear revealing a spot for her lips to stick a lingering kiss that makes him a bit dizzy.

~.~.~

"Is the Captain enamored with the Princess?" Gowther suddenly inquires. "His breathing escalates, his face reddens, and his defenses appear to lower only with her," he continues staring the two down with his version of intrigue.

King squeaks clutching his mug while sitting on Diane's shoulder, "Uhh..."

Diane holds a barrel towards her mouth and tilts her head, eyes turning away, "Well... Maybe..."

Ban snaps his chops around his meal, "He's in denial."

Gowther nods curtly. "I see. That is why the Captain did not return the Princess' kiss."

Ban snorts while drinking. "Oh, he was returning it earlier..."

Diane huffs narrowing her eyes. "The Captain is being stupid which is why we have a bet going on. I already lost. So did Ban. King's still in the running though. How did you know it would take so long for him to crack?" She lifts an eyebrow.

King levitates a portion of his meal towards himself only to stumble with it as he begins to flush in pride at Diane's notice. "The Captain is a very stubborn man."

"Can I partake in this bet as well?"

Diane lights up wobbling a bit from her consumption. "Really you want to join?"

Ban scoffs. "And let King possibly get anymore money? _No_."

Diane bears down on him with a sharp glare, "Shut up! He's joining!" All sweet smiles once more she turns to an unmoved Gowther, "It's 50 silver coins if you lose. So how long from today do you think it'll take for the Captain and Elizabeth to get together officially, no denying from either of them...?"

~.~.~

Meliodas swallows another bite as Elizabeth scoots her seat closer. The gloom from before has melted away into soft orange, pinks, and lavender ink spilled across the sky. The evening glow settles on the young woman at his side brilliantly, bringing out the roundness in her cheeks, the suppleness of her curves, and the alabaster skin of her legs that go on and on...

"So how do you like it?" She asks sweetly, having finished her own food.

He nearly bites his tongue in his haste to pull his gaze away from inappropriate ogling. "It's wonderful," he assures thickly.

Elizabeth plays with the hem of her bright orange shorts and she lets out a breath. "That's a relief! Ban didn't let me help as much with the food, but he did let me back you an entire—" she slams a hand over her lips then jumps up from her seat beyond antsy, "It should be done now!"

She bounds into the Avallo silver hair whipping behind her followed shortly by Ban who explains he's only helping her out. Meliodas looks down at the reminder and quickly polishes off his food turning to his drink to help him wait it out. Ban comes out first several minutes later carrying platters with something smelling incredibly sweet upon them. He misses the fox like smirk the man gains when handing the others their plates.

Then Elizabeth comes out head marginally lowered until she reaches him. She places the plate on the clothed table before him and he gasps marveling at the chocolate cake cut into the shape of a heart.

"I made this for you for... a lot of reasons, but mostly because I love you..." Her fingers twine nervously together as she stands in wait of his response.

Meliodas hearts flutter nonstop and her just standing there bothers him. He snatches her hand in his pulling her down to sit before kissing her knuckles repeatedly until she laughs the way that makes him swell with elation. He just wants to make her happy... "I love you too. This is an amazing thing to do, Elizabeth."

She holds tightly to his right hand with an eager grin. "Try it please!"

Behind him, unnoticed a silent battle breaks out as King and Diane tries to warn him, but Ban efficiently keeps them silent determined to watch Meliodas eat. Gowther quietly observes.

Meliodas picks up his fork, spears a chunk, and takes a bite. His entire body locks up the moment it hits his tongue with a vile ferocity that spreads throughout his body. His immediate urge is to retch, but he holds it, letting the taste curdle in his stomach when he swallows. Meliodas shivers once as his eyes become the only sign of the way he's dying inside.

"So how is it?" She asks voice silvery in hope as her hands curl more around his—unknowingly his support.

He takes in a dragging breath and plays the part of a loving counterpart as he should, "It was... delicious, Elizabeth."

She squeals, kissing the back of his hand with a smacking sound. "I'm so happy you love it! Maybe I can cook for you more often, too?"

He pales, maybe even going a bit green, while looking down at his next bite which he takes dutifully and swallows. "Yeah, maybe..."

"...Are those tears?" She suddenly stills.

He hadn't even noticed, too busy drowning in the horrors of his future meal torments. "Tears of love, Elizabeth. They're tears of love."

Ban's howling laughs far outshine the restrained snorts of Diane and King.

~.~.~

For once he tells King not to tie him up for the night feeling that after his overreaction before maybe he was simply jumping to conclusions. Plus if he's tied to how will he be able to hold Elizabeth's hand during the night?

She gazes at him tucked under the covers already when he climbs in. The moonlight shines heavily across the hope that swells in her eyes. He takes her hand beneath the sheets, soft, warm, and dainty within his battle worn one, and he whispers his reasoning, "You were right to be upset with me. I do tend to worry quite a bit."

"For good reasons," she adds just as quietly her eyes turning down.

He shakes his head. "But sometimes just this is enough and I've been overlooking that. I'm sorry."

She smiles and he can catch the hint of drowsiness catching up to her in the way her eyelids fall lower. "Please don't be."

Meliodas leans across to her side and kisses her nose before easing back. "Get some rest, Elizabeth."

She seems to sink more into her pillows, her grip on his hand loosening a bit. "Sweet dreams, my knight."

Warmth rises to set a smile in the between his cheeks. Meliodas finds it easier to ignore the icy pangs dark in the corners of his mind that urge him away from Elizabeth with him in their room of mixed mess and order and her hand in his. Sleep comes easy that night, dreams even more so...

~.~.~

 _The meat chopped, skewered, and seasoned to perfection is nearly done when a stray feather flutters before his vision. Meliodas sits rigid and snaps out his power brushing every inch of his surroundings with an almost perverse thoroughness. But nothing out of the ordinary is there._

 _His posture relaxes and he assumes it was a simple bird, not the goddess that's haunted his mind for the past year with no signs of returning. Brows drawn down tight as his jaw tenses he continues to wait for his meal while steadily sharpening the blade of his sword, a habit he picked up to keep his mind clear and away from images of her eyes set in that heart shaped face with flowing hair to curtain it. His teeth grit together and he tosses his blade to the ground lifting a hand to roughly tousle his kept locks._

 _It's been a year where he's stalled the war, in hopes of seeing her again. An entire year without her showing up at impromptu times, clashing with him in battles, and giving him his only challenge. A year without her hateful glares or heated looks, the tension between them raw and unparalleled as their words cut as deeply as their swords. He's gone a year after tasting her for the first time and knowing what it's like to have her writhing in ecstasy beneath him._

 _A snap of wood at his back draws him from his spiraling thoughts and he immediately spins in his seat to see what the noise was caused by. A weight however plops right down into his lap at that very moment taking him by surprise when their fingers wind in his hair to pull his lips right against theirs. He's frozen for several moments, eyes wide at the feel of thighs locked around his waist and lips brushing feather light over his until a searing tongue glides along the seam of his lips. His eyes become hazy falling shut as he gives an aching groan and hooks his arms under her wings to pull her sharply against him. Her mouth slants over his allowing a breathy noise to escape before he hungrily begins to devour her, sucking at her lips, rolling his tongue along hers while clutching her body to his so their rapid heartbeats are felt as one. Her scent, her curves, the silky tresses of her hair falling into his face as they kiss themselves breathless tells him all he needs to know._

 _She's back and he's never letting her escape his grasps so easily again._

 _Their lips separate with a wet pop as she tilts her head up panting. He merely drags moist kisses down her jaw to the length of her neck that gleams in the firelight._

 _"Meliodas..." She moans softly running fingers so light over his shoulders he almost thinks they're a dream._

 _He doesn't stop feeling an itch under his skin that settles his hands right over the curve of her ass and tugs her on top of his lengthening need. He muffles his deprived moan into her neck sucking hard onto her skin as his power snaps out warding off any takers. "You're mine. I won't let you leave like that again," his teeth snap at the forming mark on her neck and she whimpers shifting against him until he slides his tongue there soothing, making her moan shakily._

 _But then she pushes away from him._

 _"I'm a goddess," she spreads her wings to emphasize this, still in his lap but no longer where he needs her, "Would you really claim me, your enemy?"_

 _His fingers clench and relax into the cloth at her back shielding him from her skin, irritably. Why are they using words when they can be using their bodies to convey them far more efficiently?_

 _She notices his struggle and climbs from his lap with a delicate smile earning her a growl of protest deep from his chest. "What do you want?" She tilts her head a bit to the side and the roundness of her eyes looks so very different from before reaching inside him and gathering his hearts in a toasty warmth that he feels compelled to confess, almost desperate, "I want to take you right now."_

 _Roses blossom in her cheeks a sight he's never seen before and the itch becomes nearly impossible to ignore pressing him closer to her in the log the sit on like a predator hoping to pounce. "You've just missed me is all..." she brushes his words off. "But once you've had me would you be satisfied? You wouldn't want more?"_

 _He's nearly sidetracked by her teasing the possibility of having her when her words shine clarity on his behavior. He's showing weakness to a goddess of all beings. Meliodas pushes in the spiking urges, forcing them deeply beneath his skin with a shuddering breath and pulls away. His expression shifts from one of need to a harsh cutting smirk as he turns to tend to his cooking meat. "So you've come back to manipulate me as some kind of trump card of the goddesses? I may have had you once but that doesn't mean I haven't had my dick wet by others since then," he turns his head to face her, observing the way her lips thin and her nose begins to crinkle as her eyes tremble within his gaze. "You're nothing special," he states coldly hoping to squash the pathetic need for her dwelling within him by getting her to react and admit to her cunning plan._

 _The two tears that drip down her cheeks silent and shattering are not at all what he expects._

 _She sniffs quickly wiping them away as she stands putting her back to him, but his chest is already constricting confusion and guilt stealing his breaths as he tries to understand why his lies would break her with the ease of a falling star. "I guess it was silly of me to return then... You won't see me again. That's... That's what you want Meliodas. The goddess nuisance gone from your life." There should be hate and fire from those words like always, but instead they're choked and wet and fill his lungs with regret until he simply can't take it._

 _She takes stumbling steps forward and he knows if she leaves she'll make good on her words. A year without her was hell no matter how much he denied it to himself. But to never see her again? He sees her wings spread and he shouts, "I lied!"_

 _She whirls on him face angry red and sodden with tears a true representation of what it means to be hurt, "Don't toy with me, demon!" Her voice goes hoarse in her cry._

 _"You don't think it's above me to lie to you just to piss you off? What I don't get is why it upset you this much," he retorts just as strongly._

 _She marches right up to him and fists his coat between her fists, "Because I'm in love with you Meliodas!"_

 _He stares. Her eyes bore into his, gems welled with pent up emotion that leaks out with each new tear and he just stares, unbreathing._

 _"I've loved you for so long I don't even know what it's like to not feel it anymore," she continues voice quieting gradually. "Loving you is like breathing to me at this point. It's like night and day, wrong but oh so right. It's my everything. You're my everything."_

 _This isn't true. It can't be. It must be apart of her plan he'd suspected before. And he'd gotten so worried. "Look who's spewing lies now," he huffs trying to wriggle out of her web of silvery temptations._

 _Although her cheeks are still soaked her tears have ceased and she actually smiles fondly, "I knew you wouldn't believe me," he sits down lifting his food away from the fire just to show how invested in her words he is. "It was silly of me to try and pull such an obvious rouse over you."_

 _He nods feeling confident in his place over her. Of course that's all it was. That training she had must've heightened her skill set that's all. He goes to take a victorious bite out of his meal cooked to perfection when it's snatched from his grasp. He looks to his side skin crawling with irritation at the sight of her eating away at his meal._

 _She leans her head back lips gleaming from the meat and moans, "This is so good!"_

 _Heat flashes at the back of his neck and he turns away to pick up another skewer only for it too to vanish. His temple begins to throb._

 _"Thank you!" She chimes digging in with a swiftness he didn't know she had._

 _Staring in warped fascination as new facets are revealed to him about her that night, Meliodas intones a bit gruffly, "What exactly did you become during that training?"_

 _Another skewer vanishes. "Oh, I'm a healer now! I can't bear to take life any longer..."_

 _He sits straighter at this actually looking her over a bit closer. And he does notice the change in her wardrobe as she now wears a simple dress that stops at the tops of her thighs and tights that melts into her boots. She appears softer, daintier, no longer possessing the tone of a warrior. His throat dries the longer he appreciates the change unaware to the fact that she's eating him out of most of his meal during this time._

 _"Let me thank you for the meal," she smoothes her words across his skin invoking a shiver down his spine before a warmth swirls throughout him touching and caressing, soothing all his aches away while bringing forth a new one. He gives a heavy moan leaning towards her when she pulls away. She smiles pleasantly at his dazed look. "Do you like?"_

 _He nods, his voice becoming husky as he slides towards her entranced, "I have no reason to kill a defenseless flower like you now... do I? In healing me you happened to miss something in desperate need of your touch though..."_

 _She raises an eyebrow, "Oh?" He quivers when her palms land on his chest and she begins to undo the buttons of his coat delighted at her willingness to comply. "Well you've been a good boy. You deserve a treat, I suppose."_

 _His pants strain at her words. He allows her to remove his coat with his help only to feel shock when she stands with it in hand and takes his forgotten blade to the back. He's rooted in place when she turns away from him then, dropping his sword and then tantalizingly slips out of her dress arching the swell of her ass for him to ogle when she bends over. Her back is magnificent in the luminance of the flames only to disappear when she places his high collared coat over her skin hiding it away. She turns to face him with those round eyes gazing down at him innocently though his eyes fall down to the milky skin between her breasts where is coat was unable to close over. She looks absolutely delicious in his clothing something he hadn't ever thought would get his blood boiling in desperation._

 _Her eyes look him over and she giggles a sound that merely stokes his flames. "It seems you've enjoyed your treat then?"_

 _He rises done with the back and forth. He has only one intent in mind when approaching her. "I did... but you've eaten me out of more than half my meal and I'm feeling a bit... ravenous now. I'm sure you can help with that, right?"_

 _She visibly shivers seeing in his eyes her chances of escape are dwindling and takes to the air in a blink before he can snatch her up. "I'll see you soon, Meliodas! And I promise we'll do something even more exciting then!"_

 _His fingers curl into his palms as he curses, then stares angrily downwards knowing relief will have to come from his hand that night. He's curious by her words though. What could be more exciting than what they've done so far?_

~.~.~

Eyes of onyx open to stare unseeingly at the ceiling. Then at the feel of something warm beside him his head turns towards his left. A wicked smirk cuts across his face. His surroundings are unfamiliar, but that face is all he needs to brush that off. Meliodas shifts ever so slowly at noticing her asleep, pushing back the covers whilst he crawls over her. The fates must've had second thoughts, giving him an opportunity to have her after so long.

His fingers are deft in undoing the buttons on her asleep attire that cover her from him, hastily pushing it open. He bites back a groan as his eyes absorb the soft figure alight in moonlight becoming a healer has given her. And then his hands are taking it in too. He curses under his breath, sliding his rough fingers up the curve of her belly before filling his palms with the swell of her beasts. He'd been aroused by her body before, toned from all her years of fighting in war, but this? This is a delectable sweet, supple in every way and it's time for him to refamiliarize himself with every inch of her because of it.

Already her nipples pucker under his hold and her breathing changes just a smidgen. He chuckles beneath his breath more than eager to get her to respond more. He doesn't waste time, sucking and pulling each nipple between his lips until their visibly wet and flushed brilliantly. And that's when she starts to make tiny sounds panting in desire with him. He becomes rougher, nipping his teeth around each swell while his hands slide down her sides and curve under her to grip her magnificent ass. She moans low and drawn then, her body rolling into an arch that sets him ablaze. But he notices something weird about her as he palms and squeezes her ass—a cloth covering her that's quite uncommon for their species to adorn.

He suckles her budded nipple hard causing her to whimper before he tears the material off. There's no need for it anyway, not for what he has planned for the night. His lips drag up her skin, sliding his body between her legs knowing he's about to wake her. He smirks into her neck just thinking of the shock she'll wear at him having caught her and the inevitability of her giving in and allowing him to make this a night neither will forget.

His fingers ghost up her back when he lips reach her ear and they snag against something odd. Something _missing_.

Meliodas pulls back hearts thundering in his ears as he looks down at her and really sees what's been taken away from her. _Her wings_. The four, big, feathery nuisances she'd sometimes smack him with, the large elegant features that are as much of apart of her as her arms or her legs... have been ripped away. His skull begins to pound with earth shattering force and he struggles to take in air beyond dizzy with the impossible fact. "Goddess, your w-wings...! _What happened_!?" His voice is wrought in a strange tightness he believes stems from blind fury.

Her eyes snap open then as she gasps and something comes over her eyes at seeing him over her. Not fear or disgust but a trembling worry that he ignores by grabbing her upper arms almost too tight as he starts to shake. "Someone did this to you! _Who? Tell me, damn it_! I'll g-gut them of every pathetic organ! I'll skewer them like a common boar. I'll see to it that they're roasted over a pit alive for this. I'll do... I'll d-do anything. _Just tell me_." He's rasping, his vision blurring as his head continues to throb unbearably. Nothing makes sense. Who did this to her...? Who would do this to his...

His throat burns and he croaks, " _Goddess_...?"

Her eyes gain that firm edge of steel he's familiar with and a center of fluff he's yet to understand. Her fingers weave into the back of his hair and pull her down on top of her, cuddling his head atop her bosom. He'd protest such treatment had her power not began to seep into him, easing away the pain and lulling him towards a calm that makes his eyelids too heavy.

"It'll be okay, Meliodas. I promise, just sleep... I'm right here..."

He makes sure to grip her around the waist before he loses the battle against the comforting waves flooding inwards.

Elizabeth only lets up on her magic when Meliodas relaxes completely with heavy breaths. Only then does she begin to quiver from head to toe, burying her face into his flattened locks. Those dreams he's been having that's brought him tears, that he wouldn't talk about... They've been of their first life.

She laughs quietly though it's rather brittle and thick as she tries to emulate a dam. Which moment in their life was that? He'd still been referring to her as "Goddess" rarely using her actual name unless he was trying to demean her. It couldn't have been their first time as she probably would've awoken to the lip biting stretch as she was treated to a crash course on what sex truly is. So perhaps it was when she'd returned to him and he'd been utterly desperate for her? She'd just narrowly slipped through his fingers then. There were others of course, but by then his eyes were startling emeralds.

Her chest heaves as she holds him tighter, slips her thighs around him, and guides their bodies into flat positions on their sides. She'd been so worried about triggering his memories when he's been having them all along. Her fingers slide up and down the back of his neck as she gradually calms, pushing the anguish away in favor of forming a plan anew. "I'll simply focus on trying to find a way to dissolve the curse surrounding us then. There must be a way." Even though it's been years with no success... she wills herself to believe.

Meliodas slumbers on, head tucked beneath hers, still refusing to let her go. That'll be a problem for the morning. For now, she lets herself smile in thinking of her encounter with the past version of Meliodas, the one she'd somehow fell unendingly in love with. Even though he hadn't cared about others and didn't understand the intricacies of the finer emotions, he'd just lost it over the idea of someone removing her wings. _He'd shed tears for her_. Elizabeth rests with her heart floating above the clouds knowing that even back then—even though he was clueless towards it—Meliodas loved her just as deeply.


	14. Chapter 14

**~13~**

With a sluggish pace her eyelids flutter. Slowly they peel apart to show a bleary image. She blinks a few times more to clear it, body shifting about in her waking as she does so. Sunlight grazes her vision, though not enough to keep her gaze away from softened features and tear stained cheeks. Memories of the night previous surface one by one and Elizabeth brings a hand up to rest on his cheek. Her thumb strokes under his eyes as a paintbrush would, feathery light caresses back and forth. And then a twist of emotion near her heart draws her up where her lips touch his lighter than air. "It'll be okay this time... I promise." Her fingers trail down his neck along his shoulder and down the length of his arm as she pulls away from his hold and the cocoon of warmth that had nestled between them.

Once out of bed, she spots red on the floor and bends down to collect the remains of her panties before heading for the washroom. After tossing them in the bin there, her hands lie flat on the counter as she takes a moment to simply gaze at her reflection, feeling almost compelled to. Her fingers reach for her face, touching just beneath her eyes, then glide towards the lock of hair in front of her ear twisting it around a finger. Slowly her eyes trail down her figure opening her gown further to study her shape, curving her body a bit even to gaze further. Then she drops her gown completely and turns to study the feathers at her back along with the shape of her spine. From the width of her eyes, the length and frame of her hair, down to the shape of her body she looks the same. The exact same. That's why he didn't bat an eye last night. But on the inside she feels different, so different.

Her palms lift towards her face as her brows crease and lower. She feels like Elizabeth Liones with the weight of Elizabeth of the Goddess Clan and so many others on her shoulders. Before all she had to worry about was being ordinary Elizabeth and Princess Elizabeth. Now... She bites her lip and curls her fingers into shaky fists. "I used powers of the Goddess race twice now... The first turned out okay, but what if I messed up yesterday? Channeling my powers through this body is slightly different somehow. What if my inexperience hurts him somehow?" She presses her fists into the counter. "I don't have time to waste trying to readjust. Meliodas could remember any day now and then," she hangs her head, hair curtaining her expression. "It'll be over."

"If I remember what?"

Her body turns sharply away from the door as her heart takes a keen plunge then spikes in speed. Meliodas stands in the doorway, eyes as green as ever filled with curiosity and a murky shroud as he tries to look away. Her fingers twitch as she swivels her gaze nervously, having not heard him in her distressed musings. Now she needs an answer. She then notices how crimson heats his neck, falling down into the collar of his shirt causing her eyes to lower to his waist where the tell-tale bulge is emerging.

A tiny grin forms on her lips as she decides to use this to her advantage. Elizabeth stoops down to grasp her gown, throwing it over her body but not closing it so her front is very much displayed.

His cheeks seem to flare against his blond hair and he narrows his eyes at her with a frown that makes her giggle. " _Elizabeth_." Him striding towards her tight-lipped yet stiff lightens her chest significantly. Feeling the grazed of his fingers as he buttons up her pink attire and smelling the moist forest he carries with him no matter what soothes her immensely. Fingers weave in his hair and she leans towards him, assured her worries have been dashed; only his voice brushes against her cheek gentle yet insistent. "So what don't you want me to remember that you'd try and distract me in order to hide it?"

She can't hide her gasp, not this close. And he must be able to see the panic swirl in her eyes and hear the thuds of her heart, because he stills her head from turning away by locking her jaw in his thumb and forefinger. She squirms, nibbling her lower lip as her fingers curl into his upper arm. She nearly closes her eyes knowing she won't be able to come up with anything truly believable. And then she sees the cracks.

 _"I broke your counter!"_

He jolts, loosening his hold, then letting go altogether when he sees what she spotted as well-the fissures in the counter where her fists impacted. _"What in the-?_ How did this happen?" Fingers go into his hair as he stares down with wide eyes at her handy work and she begins to slink away.

"I'm sorry..." She pours from a low place in her heart, truly feeling that way, but grateful for the escape. Only his hand curls around the entirety of her upper arm, pulling her back slowly.

"...I'll be down in a bit. I have an announcement to make, all right?"

His eyes look weighed with severity not necessarily aimed towards her. Though whatever this announcement is definitely includes her which is what makes her swallow as a chill dusts across her skin. "Okay." He lets go and she feels as if her heartbeats have become a timer counting down.

 _'It is only a matter of time, right?'_ She smiles bitterly towards the ground on her way out.

~.~.~

She clutches a bowl to her stomach, wooden spoon stirring batter diligently the way Ban had instructed of her. He'd let her pick out the ingredients that would flavor them while he added the ones that would make them rise. She thought that perhaps baking cookies for Meliodas would calm her thoughts. And truly it did, picking from an array of ingredients she hoped he would like. She knew in all her lives that she hadn't quite been the best with cooking, and Meliodas let her down easy, but he really seemed to like what she'd made last night. She's determined to pull such a reaction from him again to warm her heart once more.

"You ready, Princess?" Ban questions turning off the burners under the finished breakfast.

Elizabeth spoons the batter onto a pan in sections then hands it over to Ban with a grinning nod. "Yep!"

He takes it with the grin of a cunning fox. "All right~! This should be done in less than half an hour," he informs her lowering it into the heated oven.

"Thanks!" The word sweeps through the air before she strolls from the kitchen, fingers playing with the button that doesn't shut across her bust. The warm smells and bright colors become muted, cooler, once her gait slows. King and Gowther sit at a table near the back, with Diane visible through a window nearby. Meliodas stands casual, hand on olive green covered hip, though his expression is etched pensively. Ban walks into the room to take a seat near the others. She, however, remains standing, forgetting how to move her feet. "All right guys," his voice carries loud and clear, "I felt it would be good to make sure we were all clear on our goals. Ultimately we are to free the Kingdom of Liones from the tyranny of the Holy Knights, ideally with all of us together. But Merlin and Escanor are still missing, so we'll do what we can if we don't find them in time."

She watches Meliodas move to a table and arch his fingers atop the white cloth. "There's also the goal of our enemy which is the resurrection of the demons."

Ban's fist clenches visibly and she recalls being tied up by Hendrickson and what was down in that cavern with a flash of fright.

"I told you all it was dire that they take my blood... because it's one of two keys to unlocking the Coffin of Eternal Darkness," he continues with a noticeable crease to his brows.

"What's that, Captain?" Diane scrunches her expression fretfully.

"And what does your blood have to do with it?" King's gaze becomes calculating as he draws a hand to his chin.

Elizabeth bores her gaze into Meliodas' back trying to see what he knows. He remembers the Coffin, but how much of it? Her pulse ticks like drops of water in desolate silence waiting for his response.

"The Coffin of Eternal Darkness is a ritual device created in the Great War to seal the demons away. The four races joined to create it in order to seal them and the goddesses would've done it, but something happened." He pauses and she curls her hands towards her chest trying to contain the pressure there. She can hear the confusion in his voice. The memories aren't completely there, but if he keeps poking...

"You were there then?" Ban suddenly voices crimson eyes thin on Meliodas.

The air thickens with the force of gales, crowding around as the two stare off. And she's not sure what can possibly shatter the Sins' growing suspicion, until Meliodas starts an airy chortle. "It's folklore, Ban. I'm just making sure you all know it."

Her hands fall to her sides shaky but a bit relieved.

"We don't want them to get the second key, though. That would be pretty detrimental," he crosses his arms and leans a hip into the table. "But for now a member of our team needs training."

Ban chokes down ale bug eyed to the snickers of Diane and King. "What? _Who_?"

Meliodas turns finally facing her and she blinks, astonished. "Well, Elizabeth of course."

"I agree with this course of action. The Princess would be an excellent addition in battle," Gowther inserts evenly hands folded in his lap.

She feels her skin pink a smidge as Meliodas smiles at her sheepishly. He'd given thought to training her abilities...? Her eyes fall down to her feet to hide the way her lips respond to the fluttering and warmth in her gut.

King begins to engage Diane in conversation and Ban hops over the bar for more ale. She's certain her worries were for nothing. She's about to turn into the kitchen to begin collecting breakfast when she catches Meliodas' next words.

"Say, Gowther, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you-"

A buzz of sparks in the air draws her eyes to Gowther using magic, white and glossy, to connect to Meliodas through the tip of his finger for an instant. "I can see what you want to ask me. Your memories are gapped in many places or lost altogether in others. You are confused about your dreams and even what happened in Danafor, am I correct?" Gowther tilts his head pink hair falling slightly across his face. He speaks about these things as flat as ever though to Elizabeth he may as well have just blown a hole in through gut nonplussed.

Her eyes widen as they quiver, breathes slipping from her grasp refusing to settle in her constricting lungs. _'No, he can't. He can't be_...'

Meliodas swallows, then tersely nods and Elizabeth sinks into a seat no longer having control of her mobility.

Gowther adjusts his glasses. "You remember everything about what happened in Danafor, but not why. Even your dreams, or memories seem purposely fogged."

"Do you know why?" Meliodas places his hands flat on Gowther's table and Elizabeth brings her own up to cover her mouth, to hide the trembles beginning to rack her frame. The others start to notice the conversation and gradually quiet.

Again the magic snaps out and Gowther's eyes seem to look somewhere only he can. "I cannot. There is a power lurking within you not of your own. Similar, but on an entirely different scale. I cannot approach it for it would probably erase me as well, as that seems to be its nature ultimately. It holds a malicious purpose that I cannot discern, but what I can see is that it's similar to perpetual shackles upon your soul."

The room grows unbearably still. Not a sound, not a breath as Meliodas pales.

Emotion scrapes at the back of her throat and she blinks rapidly against welling tears. How did she not foresee Meliodas turning to Gowther for answers? There's no way she can possibly hide him away from a reader of _minds_.

"Gowther... Do you know why it's there?" Meliodas asks with a woozy feel to his tone.

"I do not," Gowther responds succinctly and then his eyes lean around Meliodas to fix right on her.

She positively loses her composure, tears waterfall down her cheeks as she presses her palms to her mouth to hold in her shuddering sobs. She can feel the eyes turn on her set after set like stones stacking on her shoulders and she shuts her eyes, unable to bear it.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong!?" Meliodas shouts alarmed before hurried footfalls and her head being tucked to his chest. She wants to just hide away from the inevitable as she weeps into her hands but the pinch of magic travels throughout her like a barely noticeable wave and she knows she's lost.

"Oh. I see."

Meliodas' fingers stroke through her hair and rub up and down her back as he snaps, "What do you mean, Gowther? Elizabeth, what's upset you?" His lips touch the crown of her head and she abandons covering her cries opting for clutching his sides as her eyes soak his vest.

"I should not say. It would prove to be dire," is all Gowther voices.

Her breath hitches while her heart lodges in her throat. Her fingers grip so tight in Meliodas' sides she's certain he notices. He won't say...? Her head feels dizzy as blood rushes towards it feeling the relief she tentatively grasps. The flood of conflicting emotions fog in her ears numbing her skin like a frigid pelting. Fingers curl under her chin and lift her face before she can even find her bearings.

Meliodas' eyes gaze down at her studying every crevice as tears slide at a slower drizzle down her cheeks. She tries to school her features with shaky fingers in his sides, to hide away from his searching gaze, but it's too much too soon. A familiar rigidness cuts around his eyes for a moment before fading away as finds what she couldn't conceal. She closes her eyes feeling her lips tremble in defeat when he places a kiss to her temple that makes her heart pang. "We'll talk later..." He quietly promises and her arms encircle his waist holding him close while she still can.

"Is she all right?" King hesitantly drifts closer only to be knocked out of the way by a cursing Ban dashing towards the kitchen.

Of course when the acrid smell begins to pollute the air alerting them to her burning cookies, she sinks even lower in misery.

~.~.~

Elizabeth hadn't spoken a word to him since her show of tears before breakfast.

Meliodas knows she's cried for him, she's cried for her family, but otherwise she's rarely does. She's strong, as tough as nails even, but when she'd heard his talk with Gowther she'd practically shattered. A true aura of heartbreak, a depth beyond devastation had covered her, driving a blade through his gut at the sight.

And it's just been twisting since.

His eyes fix at her back trekking ahead of his, figure clad in a white button up-his to be exact-rolled up at the sleeves with a mustard yellow low cut shirt beneath it, her bright orange shorts from her uniform remain. All together affording her the look of sweet and desirable as always. Though the rigid air around her continues to ward him away. She hadn't wanted to travel up a bit in the forest with him as they do now. In fact she'd downright refused at first, an act that had seized his lungs and crushed his hearts to the point where he couldn't even move when she'd turned away.

There was too much that morning that simply didn't make sense to him and all of it was surrounding oddities in Elizabeth. Gowther informing him of the power purposely keeping his memories at bay and only seeming to understand _why_ when reading Elizabeth. Her words in the bathroom and how she'd cleverly kept him from getting answers out of her. She's usually honest with him and she had told the truth... just not the one he was looking for. She knows something that would, in her and Gowther's words, prove dire if he discovered. But what he can't seem to add up no matter how long his mind picks away at it is how she could possibly know what's afflicting him. They only just met by chance. But still, the look in her eyes and those sobbing tears...

He has to get answers from her by tonight.

And from the looks of her sulking, shoulders slumped, head hung, walk slow yet purposeful enough to keep a distance between them, it won't be easy. She'd only had a change of heart in coming with him after talking with Diane, a development he's more than okay with admitting stung quite a bit. Or more like gutted him from the inside out as he'd smiled up at her as if to say everything was peachy.

An hour more of stretched silence between them. The air is wet with an early spring chill though the sun feels nice enough through the canopies. The earth is rich, perfect to calm the mind, though when they reach a clear enough space within the trees he's not sure if Elizabeth will take him up on that offer just yet. "Are you angry with me? Upset with me?" He halts placing his hands in the pockets of his pants-the only thing of his attire that's the same. He's certain he'll lose the deep green button down, left open over a black sleeveless, during training.

Elizabeth stops as well but doesn't verbally answer. Her back to him is to be interpreted how he desires.

Meliodas tilts his head and puts a smile on that pains him. "All right then, take your aggression out on me. I don't intend for you to fight, but you should be able to defend yourself."

The birds twitter softly above as he spies her fingers curl a bit.

"Show me what you're made of," he prompts in a lower tone.

She whirls hair billowing out around her before she lunges. His arms cross in front of his face to block the strike feeling her power disperse through him in a wave. He actually winces in surprise not having supsected her ability to know how to use the power thrumming through her to a fighting advantage. He prepares for another strike he feels aiming at his ribs. His body curves away slightly on instinct as his hands fall away. If her power hadn't wavered he might've been bruised there. As it is he takes a breath, feeling his blood gradually pulse in his veins. She's actually responding towards him-in an aggressive way-but he'll take what he can at this point.

Solely on the defense, he finds himself actually having to back away as her fists land blow after blow to his person. He blocks most with his hands or forearms, but allows a few to break through simply feeling her out. His mind focuses on her motions, the flex of her muscles and what her next action might possibly be as they dance across the clearing, but his eyes observes her face and the expressions it holds. Rigid at first. Her eyes are hard and guarded with each strike, her mouth pursed as her nose flares. But as they move about, his hands subtly fisting hers and guiding them towards more vital places to aim for, her eyes start to open up, blooming before him. Her skin gains a nice flush of exertion and she breathes a bit more openly.

His hearts stumble in their nervous pace.

Elizabeth pushes harder, feigning strikes so her fists dig nicely into his sides, surprising him enough so she can attack the pivotal place in his torso that would have him double over-if her power was consistent that is.

"You're so good... at this, Meliodas,"she pants voice tight as she struggles to break her hands free of their grapple hold, her power fluttering in bursts against his palms that makes his skin pop with electricity.

He narrows his eyes grinning at this. "I do have more experience here."

Her knee nails his side and he coughs letting her hands go. She smiles with the raw flare of a wildfire, patting his shoulder with a breathy giggle. "Good thing you're showing me all your moves. I'll be better prepared next time we do this."

His cheeks tingle from the depth of his blush before he rights himself in a defensive stance once more. Getting her to fight was definitely the right move, even at the cost of becoming overly excited by her enthusiasm to say the least.

She rushes him then, a blaze of fiery determination twirling her body in a show of flexibility he hadn't realized the princess possessed. He stills watching her leg arc towards him long enough that his arm flying up to deflect it nearly fails. But then she follows through with a fluid form that takes him back _millennia_. Her leg retracts, body immediately swiveling around him on the ball of that foot so the heel of her other rams right into his spine taking him to the ground with a hiss.

He lies there motionless, grass and dirt sticking to his chin not daring to breathe as wisps of images cross his eyes from his dream.

"Meliodas, I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" Her hands fall one in his shoulder another on his back where she'd kicked and he chokes up at feeling trickles of energy soak into him.

"How did you learn that?" He sucks in breaths trying with futile to recall the goddess he once loved with a force that carried his soul reminiscent to his feelings for Elizabeth.

Her knees come into his vision and then her hand as she offers it to him. He takes it, curling his fingers around hers as he pulls himself up. Her eyes look down as a smile barely reaches her lips. "I don't know. I... just went with what came naturally."

He continues to gaze at her body sore in more than one way holding onto her hand as he wills himself to forget the goddess for now. His thumb begins to run circles into her palm as his power crawls beneath his skin seeking. Dusting just under her flesh hesitant but persistent he swallows when a slight shiver courses through her, once again put off by the sense that she's deterred by his nature. That is until bubbly warmth almost lighter than air brushes against his magic, much cooler and sharper. Now he shivers feeling a small coiling inside him and meets her gaze. Her eyes are a bit dazed and he knows why even her energy slides along his further making that coil melt into a pleasant burn. As much as he wants to experiment with the intimacies of such a connection, he'd had something else in mind when trying to bring out her power.

"Elizabeth..."

She closes her eyes at his voice chest swelling with a breath she lets out in a slow moan.

Now he shakes from both arousal and nerves heat steaming up his skin as sweat gathers in his palms. He drags his wide eyes away from hers while he pulls his power within tendril by tendril feeling her reluctance mix with his. "I'm going to teach you how to control your power so it won't fluctuate so wildly."

He peeks out of the corner of his eye to see her reopen hers with more vibrancy to them which makes him smile. "Better control?"

"Yeah, it'll be simple. All it takes is proper study and potential to get it down." He slips his hand from hers in order to sit with crossed legs directly in front of her. She shifts to mirror his position and their knees rest against the other's. Meliodas' eyes glimmer with dedication at seeing the round interest painted in her blue eyes. "I'll show you the way."

~.~.~

He was somehow wrangled into a game of hide and seek.

Meliodas had taught Elizabeth how to control the airy swirl of energy compressed in her chest perhaps too well. He'd made sure she knew how to spread it from head to toe and even further beyond to be used as she saw fit. Elizabeth had used that control to grow flowers vigorously around their perched figures then make the trees around them heavy with fruits. The outpour had been like a rolling wave of warmth almost tangible to the touch as an electric yellow faintly pulsed over her.

By the time their lessen grew to its conclusion the sky was filled with more quiet tones, the world around them gradually heading towards slumber. Meliodas had suggested they head back, but Elizabeth had shocked him by insisting they stay a little longer. She'd been calm then, a stark contrast to how things started with them in their trip, and, stumbling over himself, he'd offered to catch them a dinner. A large boar wasn't too hard to acquire and get roasting over a fire, especially with all the herbs grown in the area from Elizabeth's show of power. However it would take a bit for all the meat to cook. That's when Elizabeth eagerly suggested the game.

And now he silently curses himself for how well she's able to conceal herself now.

The sky is still filled with trickles of life, not quite fallen into twilight. But the forest is shifting, the shadows of the trees growing longer and darkness spreading more to become a shroud. He knows Elizabeth is more able to fight for herself if necessary, but the worry for her will always be there-even during a harmless child's game.


	15. Chapter 15

**~14~**

Meliodas stalks carefully through the grouping of trees; deliberately making sure not to let any part of him brush any bark and as little shrubbery as possible, after all scent is essential right now.

"Elizabeth..?" He keeps his tone light, almost flat as he knows she won't answer- this is a _game. "_ Where are you?"

The forest is an array of sweet and thick earth, even the moisture in the air threatens to distract him from his goal as he presses onwards, his eyes keen to any motion not of a frightened animals as he knows what he's looking for.

The scent jasmine races electric and sweet across his skin, it's is something that lighter than any cloud, clinging to him unrelenting. He knows it by heart. No imposters can sway him. So when it reaches out to grab him he follows, teeth slightly showing in his growing grin, and on light feet Meliodas prowls around a tree hearts starting to leap. "I... _found you_!"

The other side of the bark is empty.

He blinks several times.

Then his fingers grazing the wood as his lips part, "what?" the grin falling away. "But I was sure she...?"

A faint giggle sounds somewhere behind him and Meliodas' lips reshape into a half grin. _Oh so that was how it was going to be._ "All right then. No more messing around." She'd been clever to hide in one place then move to another. But now that he knows how far she's willing to go, he feels free to use whatever means necessary to draw her out.

Neither night or day falls overhead, simply a mix of the last rays of light and the awakening of dark. He keeps his walk a steady pace, and it's the quiet breaths hastening that is a nudge, ears straining for an unusually sounds. "Elizabeth... If you don't come out, you're going to miss the meal I'm making... and I know how hungry you are..." he teases a bit, practically expecting a growl from her stomach to give her away. "Don't you want any of that juicy seasoned meat, Elizabeth?"

He spins at a rustling, the lighter pitch of the woman teasing. "I know you're lying! You said it wouldn't be ready yet!" The pout in her tone is heavy and again behind him. The rustle was merely a rabbit that hops to its next destination.

Meliodas is however pleased with the results his smile widespread as he sneaks closer to where her scent is strongest and her voice originated from. "Well... there is a possibility that it could be finished by now." He makes sure to keep his voice even so as not to give anything away. There's still at least an hour before it can be served. He creeps around the tree arms curved and ready to capture her. "Why don't you come out now? I'll make you as much as you want! Have you even tried my wild boar yet?" The other side is revealed and once again he's stunned by the empty space that stares back at him.

"Oh, you're so mean!" His breath ceases long enough for him to realize where the playful spout of words are coming from and prepare. He twists just in time to catch the body jumping towards his from the lowest branch taking the force of their combined weight as they hit the ground. Elizabeth squeals while his heart nearly bursts his hands grabbing at her waist to hold her close and be sure she's okay. From the breathless laugh she gives as she gazes down at him with windswept hair she's more than fine. "I know that's not true," she pokes his nose.

When he has enough air in his lungs he doesn't hesitate to show his worry in his strained tone, "Are you crazy? What were you thinking?"

Elizabeth smiles like the stars brightening above them, soft and twinkling and his breathing quiets, his hearts thrumming with a growing sensation of adoration with the blush over his cheeks. She leans over him a bit closer, silky locks wondrous where they touch, scent surrounding him filling his every breath, and becomes the only thing he can see—his moon and twinkling stars. "What I was thinking was... _I caught you."_

She dips down over him then stops a breadth away, her eyes peering into his searching perhaps. As the seconds march on it becomes increasingly clear how aware he is of her. Every breath he takes is mixed with hers, the slight warmth of her mouth not even an inch away. He can almost taste her, can imagine lifting up slightly to graze his mouth over hers and shudder from head to toe from the intensity of it. Though intense can't describe the feeling of lying there her weight entirely stretched across him, warmth swirling over his increasingly sensitivity skin with her cute little mouth right _there_. His thoughts can't truly form, feeling like collecting water that ultimately leaks between his fingers. Meliodas takes a quick breath fingers twitching at her back as he shifts below her.

She seals their lips together before he can try and comprehend it. It's like a small explosion spreads outwards from his being as a long shaky sigh leaves his lungs. Her lips are light atop of his tingling with every press. And he kisses back enticed by the teasing sensations, making their lips mesh firmer, yet just as slow so the unsteadiness of their breathing is electric between them. Her tongue slides forward first, a jolt of pleasure down his spine that has his hands pressing her every curve into his until the only thing separating them are clothes. He swallows her moans, building a charge of tension under his skin that turns the kisses into sensual dances frantic and wanting as her legs part over his.

A throb picks up in his skull, the racket of his blood starting to beat there, and it's near impossible from him not to slide a hand to the small of her back holding her firmly to him as his hips gently roll up between her legs. He finds the soft noise she makes as her lips falter over his mesmerizing and the pulsing feeling under his skin wants to hear it again, louder and more frequent. But Elizabeth's fingers tighten at his shoulders and she pulls her mouth away only an breadth, but that's too much to him. "Meliodas, do you want to do this by the fire?" Her tone is ginger and coaxing, overly addicting to his ears, "It's soft there... Not too far," she captures his mouth in a searing kiss as breathing takes a back seat for the time being. She wants to move... her body even curves away from his now with her wondrous kiss being the last part of them to break. But no that's not right, her hand is in his, soft and warm with a beautiful strength underneath as she stares down at him asking him to follow.

Taking in slow breaths he climbs to his feet a little awkwardly from the growing stiffness in his pants and tries to use the air not surrounding her to untangle his thoughts. Elizabeth must see right through him, an ability he loves and flushes from, as she presses right up to his front until his shallow breathing is too loud in his mind and places several small kisses to his mouth intoxicating him to the point of wanting to snatch her up and have her right on the ground once more. But she tugs back with a breathless laugh their feet almost stumbling through the darkened forest to the golden gleam in the small distance.

The sight of the cooking food and hearing it pop and crackle doesn't sober him as much as the way watching Elizabeth step back from him just to lay herself out in the young grass dotted with soft hues all around. She's more than a sight before him with long, sheeny silver hair tumbling around her, pale supple skin just waiting to be touched and soft innocent features gazing up at him with curious lust and so much love his knees almost fail him. To Meliodas she's resplendent both inside and out. She's a goddess. His goddess.

Elizabeth must notice the twinge of hesitancy overtaking his features because her voice becomes slightly thick besides the smile she wears, her eyebrows creasing. "I want to be close with you Meliodas. Please? After today I just... I want to feel like I won't lose you."

His hearts lurch throwing away the image that was trying to form in mind, sending him to his knees as he bends over her. "You'll never lose me, Elizabeth. Why would you—?"

"Then show me." She closes her eyes for a long moment and he knows that she's trying to conceal something from him in doing so. Their eyes meet again and all the festering questions, the need for answers, are overshadowed by his want to comfort her, to make the little tremble in her lips go away. That's what he's wanted this entire trip. She's offering him the best way.

The kiss he pulls her into is different this time. There's no need to play games. They know what they want, what they've both wanted for a while and the strength and passion building behind every twist of their lips is consuming. His hands cup her round cheeks holding her steady as he simply devours her, unrestrained for once, delving his tongue along the seam of her plump lips, sliding over hers, and sucking noises from her throat that kindles sparks through his veins. Elizabeth is pleasantly responsive with eager hands carding through his hair so the scrape of her nails winds down his spine. Those delicate fingers tug and pull at his hair whenever he nips at her mouth something he decides she likes from the sweetness of her whimpers.

Their breathing is rushed and almost raspy, his turning into a sudden hum when her fingers, burning hot, presses into his lower belly. Slowly he breathes moans down her throat as her fingers glide with the pace of a slug up his torso, leaving a trail of crackling with desire in her wake. It's clear when her fingers reach his collarbone, her lips mouthing the corner of his, that she wants his undershirt off. Leaning up off of her he takes it in hand and pulls it from over her head tossing it to be forgotten. The look of satisfaction in her gaze leaves him shaky and hot all over his skin. She quickly sits up in seeing this, her hands almost too much to his sensitive flesh, when she grabs around his back her mouth working fervently over his chest. He trembles all the more blood set to a gut fluttering simmer as his hands shoot out to grasp around her with a choked groan. Wet sucks caress his muscles that twitch and roll beneath her attention her fingers working a second assault at his back never ceasing motion whether they're sliding up or scraping down making his cock achingly throb. "I've always wanted to explore you like this, Meliodas," she pants in clear excitement, her tone low and kittenish while he tilts his head back with a hungered moan.

He has to find his tongue when he peeks down to watch her own dart out and taste the dips between his muscles on her way down. His hearts leap when he realizes she's trying to move from underneath him in order to press him on his back. And while that's a blush-inducing, cock-straining plan, Meliodas sweeps his fingers under her chin stopping her advances temporarily with a short laugh. "Shouldn't I be saying the same thing about you?"

She visibly shivers, her tongue sliding across her lower lip which gleams in the mix of moonlight and fire's glow. Using the tightening that forms in his stomach he guides her onto her back and gently nudges her legs apart with his knees. Carefully his hands press over her clothed stomach feeling it quiver as she makes a trembling noise in her throat. Upwards his hands go cupping her breasts only fleetingly as a whiny sound escapes her lungs making him smirk. Part of his goal is reached when he starts unbuttoning his shirt from her, his eyes locking with hers and watching the growing want roll and crash through the darkened blues like waves enthralling him. His lips capture hers desperately as the shirt comes undone, part of the obstacle in his way that his hands dip under and around her, firmly holding her up and to him in doing so. He waits for her to shrug it completely off while his lips move insatiably over hers.

Soon she starts to fidget and move beneath him; his mouth finds a new path to take, one that drives her fingers tight around his sides as her thighs slide over his. Her neck is sucked with care, her skin drawn between his teeth so that she makes that high pitched mewl that curls his fingers a little more at her back. His tongue is languid in the way it strokes her flesh tasting the potent saccharin of her being seasoned by her growing passion. He eases downwards sucking in needed air as he threatens to lose himself too soon just from her hands on his skin, her taste on his tongue. Her collar bone is prominent, a place he sucks as Elizabeth's body quivers with an urgent groan. "Meliodas... I want..." Light as air she breathes out for him and he reacts by sliding his hands to the hem of her yellow undershirt, promptly ripping it down the middle.

The shredded fabric in his hands seems to stir an embarrassed flush in his cheeks and he peeks at her expression to find her eyes wide upon him. She breaks out into a blinding grin shoving the ruined shirt to the side unwittingly displaying the jostle of her perky breasts and peaked nipples in doing so. Meliodas clears his throat feeling a blaze stir like gales under his skin as she goes on to kick off her boots leaving her in only her bright orange shorts. Leaning down he kisses her nose, shocking a breath from her. "I'll buy you another shirt sometime..." He promises while carefully guiding his hands to her bare sides almost immediately overwhelmed by the sensation of such velvety warmth on his coarse palms.

Her lips burn like a touch from the sun just under his chin, a silent thank you. Once more he dips over her his hands grasping her thighs as his lips trail between the valley of her breasts. Just a gaze of them on his cheeks tempts him and he finds his lips climbing one sucking the skin softly as she sighs out then hard when she croons deep heady moans. He just about loses it even a budded nipple brushes his lips, his tongue darting out to flick rapidly over it as Elizabeth brings a fist over her mouth to cover a short curse. It inflames him as he sucks her breasts one rosy peak after the other urging her spine into a breathtaking bend when he grazes his teeth on one and roughly kneads the other. He feels her becoming just as hot as he when his mouth moves under her heaving chest his teeth nipping at the sensitive flesh just under her swells for a time. He can taste it in her sweat, smell it in her scent, and hear it in her heavenly voice how much she desires what they have rising like an inferno been them. Her fingers curl into his hair just when his lips kiss her belly tenderly his decision to finally end her growing torment made.

Her fingers tight in his locks are enough to hold onto reason when his lips graze her skin above the hem of her shorts, the scent of arousal there so strong his hips roll as a growl scrapes through his throat. Her panting his name isn't helping as her own hips arch up for him to remove her shorts. Eventually he finds the steadiness to get them off and is more pleasured than he feels he should be when pulling them off her shapely legs. The sodden blue panties waiting for him there are perfect and he lets her know with a warm smile, his fingers skimming the insides of her thighs.

Elizabeth tries to smile back but it's a bitten off noise disturbs the visual. She instead bestows a loving gaze in his direction and innocently informs him, "You're eyes... they're so dark. They make me feel so hot... everytime you look at me."

He sucks in a breath looking down as his fingers tense around her skin a knot of uncertainty forming.

Until Elizabeth rushes on, "It just means you want me like I want you... very much."

He nods knowing this to be true more than anything and leans down to place a kiss on the inside of her thigh to prove that. One kiss turns into two, his touch lingering and persistent as he relishes more and more of her. Her hastening breathes urge hum on, the heat of her skin and the tremble of her thighs. And before he even realizes it after taking a nice nibble out of her flesh his tongue laps over her panty covered slit and her hips buck with a thick moan. She's right there, hot and wet only separated by a barrier his tongue presses harder and harder against to try and taste more of her while she trembles and cries out pleas. In a way he's testing himself, as his pulse ticks rapidly under his skin, finding out how much he can take of her sinful noises as she grows wetter, her lewd motions he tries to contain, and the hint of her ripe flavor that's already twisting relentlessly under his skin.

It really only takes her fingers weaving back in his hair like a sharp command to get him tearing at her underwear until his lips are the only thing she feels in fervent deep kisses. He squeezes his eyes tightly shut at the onslaught of sensations that hit him at once. The high urgent moans and cries of her voice as she tries fruitlessly to buck and twist beneath him shoots straight to his cock encouraging breathy groans from his throat. His mouth is insatiable once more his head bent over her spread legs with a hunger that has her pleasure practically seeping from her. She's exquisite, silky heat on his tongue he can't get enough of. His fingers hold her thighs further apart with a guttural noise feeling her starting to twitch more frequently as her voice strains higher and higher the deeper he kisses her. His hearts flutter wildly in his chest overjoyed with how pleased she seems, her hands haven't left his hair once and her body curved towards his. Pressing closer if possible he drags his eyes open to see her while his mouth works where she needs it with a passionate flare, catching how her mouth opens wide with a spine tingling wail of his name. His eyes slip back closed to savor the image of flushed cheeks and sweat dotted temples just as her core spasms with a gush of heated release.

Feeling overly hot across his cheeks, Meliodas laps at her gently taking in what she has to offer until she sags to the ground with labored breaths.

Gazing down at her so utterly gorgeous in the relief of orgasm, he tells himself this is all she needs from him, that he shouldn't take anymore-even if they went into this with the promise of more. Meliodas brushes his palm over her cheek causing her closed eyes to reopen. "I'm just going to... uh, make sure the food doesn't burn." He swallows nervously when her hands latch around his and she starts to sit up. "I know you wouldn't want to go on an, um, empty stomach."

Trying to back away proves to be in her favor as she forces him down onto his back. She grins brightly working off his shoes and socks then starting to unfasten his pants as she straddles his thighs. "I'm willing to wait. We aren't finished Meliodas..."

He chokes on his breath, hands flying to her hips when she grips him in hand and _fuck_ if the velvety clutch of her hold isn't beyond sensational. "E-Elizabeth...!" His protest easily dissolves into thick groans as she strokes him with confidence, her thumb rubbing just under the head in a way that makes his eyes drift shut while he rolls languidly into the hole in her fist. She pleasures him like this for a while and he finds he doesn't mind her sensual touch or the way it heightens his arousal. He doesn't notice when her weight disappears off his thighs. He does however notice when his tip begins to press inwards into a tight, heated slickness that steals his breath away.

Meliodas' eyes fly open to watch with a dry throat Elizabeth gradually take him inside her core. His hands tighten over her hips balancing her weight as his hearts skip beats all over the place. The look on her face tinged in bliss and discomfort and the draw of her eyebrows tells him she's determined. She wants this and he won't make it any harder for her. Despite the incredible feel of her sliding inch by inch over his cock, Meliodas pays attention to her expression, rolling his hips upwards slowly when he can until her folds rest over the root of him, fully seated. That's when he allows himself a deep moan his eyes falling shut to really take in the pleasure surrounding him while she adjusts. His hands slide up and down her sides pressing at her ribs to take away any sense of displeasure. And he's shocked when she bends forward for a moment breasts kissing his skin as her hair curtains their faces. Elizabeth's hands brace on the ground beside him before she rocks forward slowly then seats herself with a breathy sigh of his name.

It's hypnotizing watching the raw pleasure wash over her eyes as she begins to move discovering what she likes as she does so. His hands glide down her hourglass shape to the flare of her hips to find her ass to grab on when she leans back. And when her own brace on his chest to help her start bouncing in place his stomach melts into pools of boiling hot tension leaving him a moaning mess beneath her. Elizabeth moves over him the way he knows her thoughts to be-unpredictable. One minute she'll be riding his cock like she's determined to blow his mind, his breathing rushed to match hers as his head falls back to show the straining cords of muscles in his neck and the flush bleeding down his chest. Though the next she decides on a sensual roll of her hips, that ensnares his being, his eyes being helpless to watch her take pleasure from him and give it in such a beautiful toe curling way. And his most favorite is when she takes his hands and slides them up her chest to capture her bouncing breasts while she rides him purring his name low and desperate.

The pleasure sings between them no matter what thrumming over his balmy skin like never before. He's almost sure that this is some kind of dream that they aren't giving into their love and want for the other. That he really isn't rolling her nipples as she shudders out a helpless noise to bring her closer towards another peak. But she falls over him lips at his throat and hands clutching the grass beside his head and he's positive this has reality. Breath hitching a bit at the way she slides over his rigid cock in a way that makes his muscles tense in readiness ever so subtly, he slides his hands over her sides bringing them over her rear once more as his knees are brought up. _"Elizabeth... Ooh Elizabeth..."_ He moans a bit tight noticing her core clutching him more and more the deeper she brings him and the longer they make love.

Her skin prickles under his grip, her voice noticeably shaky and weak at his throat. _"Meliodas... Please... I need..."_

That plea is all he needed to begin pumping up into her, his skin slapping loudly against hers. He grunts as her weight falls completely onto him little cries now filling the forest with the same ferocity he drives into her. It's intense the heat that clouds his mind melting the foundations and threatening to shatter him whole while she claws at his arms. But it feels beyond flames and sparks dancing in his blood as his throat strains with throaty growls at her core reacting the way he sees fit, tightening and squeezing as he knows she's bound to release. It's almost indescribable knowing as she starts to quake that he's doing for her what no other will ever. He smooths his hands up her sweat slicked back cock beginning to pulse as he all but slams into her. But then he freezes, his breath a jagged stab through his lungs.

His fingers graze over feathers, downy, soft and undoubtedly _connected._ Feathers that normally coat wings. _Wings._ He's paralyzed with the thought, his eyes staring ahead as his fingers mindless roam over her back.

Elizabeth gives a panicked cry of his name her body moving over his almost frantically at his discovery. It takes her lips slanting over his with wordless desperation for him to fall into his shattering bliss, his hips grinding upwards in an almost pained fashion to pump her with seed. Elizabeth quakes over him sobbing into his mouth as her fingers clutch at his hair, her mouth still tangled with his. The pleasure is bone deep and almost excruciating in a way as they move together savoring their joining for as long as they can.

His fingers still brush over her back with a shaky motion. He doesn't know if her sobs are entirely from rapture. He does know when he begins to soften in gratification nothing will keep his mind away from the things he should've noticed. "T-These feathers came in when your back was hurting. Your power grew with them. E-Elizabeth you... What do you know about what's happening to me? What's happening here? Tell me—"

 _"No!"_ Her face hidden at his neck with ragged breaths lifts to hover over his attempting to cease the maelstrom thundering through his mind, but it's pointless. His mouth refuses to shut his eyes burning into her and seeing through her all at once. "You know something... This t-thing affecting me. Memories..." He starts to inhale too quickly his hands growing cold and clammy as something tries to overtake his mind dark, heavy, and _too much._ "Liz killed by... G-Goddess I loved E—"

A shock of power invades him pressing over his consciousness like an enveloping blanket, blocking out everything as his eyes fall shut. And yet as he drifts in his forced state of calm slumber, it feels unnatural, the darkness is too thick around him. And somehow he knows she's there with him her voice a tiny heartbroken thing that reaches him even there.

 _"I know this won't work for long... It never does. I love you so much, Meliodas... I just wanted to be close. And for a while there as we loved each other, I forgot there was a world outside of Elizabeth Liones and Captain Meliodas. I forgot I couldn't be selfish."_

In this odd state a world away from her, he finds his soul breaking, tears bleeding from his heart as her words truly resonate with him.


End file.
